MattJump

Earliest check-in time from Galveston is now 11 am. This used to be 10 am a few years ago.

Earliest check-in time from Galveston is now 11 am. This used to be 10 am a few years ago.

That’s what we thought about the cards as well, but for some reason this wasn’t the case. That’s why I explained how it caused a whole ordeal where we had to carry around both cards the rest of the trip. For example, the old card would not access our rooms anymore and the new cards wouldn’t work with charges on board.

That’s what we thought about the cards as well, but for some reason this wasn’t the case. That’s why I explained how it caused a whole ordeal where we had to carry around both cards the rest of the trip. For example, the old card would not access our rooms anymore and the new cards wouldn’t work with charges on board.

The bar tender re-printed the cards of the group of 4 traveling with us. She wanted to take all of their misprinted cards, but they kept them just in case. The new cards were the only ones that could be used to get off the ship and the old ones were the only ones that actually worked for charges on the ship. It was a whole ordeal, so they had to carry around both cards for the rest of the cruise.

The bar tender re-printed the cards of the group of 4 traveling with us. She wanted to take all of their misprinted cards, but they kept them just in case. The new cards were the only ones that could be used to get off the ship and the old ones were the only ones that actually worked for charges on the ship. It was a whole ordeal, so they had to carry around both cards for the rest of the cruise.

We recently sailed on the Allure of the Seas out of Galveston. After being the first ones to board, we got to our room later in the day to discover that our light blue Sky Class Suite sea pass cards had been misprinted to the purple cards for Star Class Suite guests. After getting settled in and unpacking, we made our way up to the concierge, MJ, who we introduced ourselves to and enjoyed a nice chat with. We informed him of the misprint and he said that it should be no issue and we could keep the cards and use them like normal. He told us that the card, internally, is still set to our room, which is a sky class.

Day 2 comes and we're in the suite lounge where a bar tender takes our orders, asks for our sea pass cards, and upon returning, says that we have the wrong cards. We informed her that we know they are misprinted, but were told it's ok to use them. She carried on without incident. Later in the day, we were back in the suite lounge again and once again, the same bar tender says we have the wrong cards and need to go get them re-printed at guest services. We said ok since we thought she didn't understand us earlier.

Fast forward to day 4, after our first stop, we once again had this lady as our bar tender. We were skeptical to order from her because of previous encounters with her, but did so anyways. This time she took a while to come back. In the 20 minutes she was gone, someone else had brought us our drinks and she came back with new sea pass cards that she went and had printed at guest services. When she returned, she nearly ripped our originally misprinted cards out of our other group members hand. Needless to say, at this point, we were very upset. 

After this incident, I informed our concierge and guest services of the incident, who then contacted the bar tenders boss. The officer met me and concierge MJ at guest services where I explained what happened. They informed me that she acted out of line and should never have done something like that. We talked about the situation where we all agreed that she was completely in the wrong. The guest services attendant explained that she came down to the front desk and said that the guests would like their sea pass cards reprinted to the correct type. (Which we weren't planning to do as we were told it was fine to use.)

Anyways, after the report, the bar tender was taken out of the suite lounge for the remainder of the cruise, but we never received any further communication about the incident. This was a major inconvenience for everyone in the other group we were travelling with, as they weren't properly informed that their new cards would be the only useful cards that would get them off the ship. Needless to say, the rest of the cruise was a debacle on which cards could and couldn't be used. 

I know our situation was probably very rare, but I don't think the bar tender handled it well at all. Nearly getting physical with a guest over the color of a card, even though we were told it wouldn't matter and all the necessary information is stored in the computer when they are supposed to swipe the cards. Our benefits aligned with sky class no matter the color of card.

Has anyone else had similar situations or heard of similar events happening and causing great inconvenience? 

We recently sailed on the Allure of the Seas out of Galveston. After being the first ones to board, we got to our room later in the day to discover that our light blue Sky Class Suite sea pass cards had been misprinted to the purple cards for Star Class Suite guests. After getting settled in and unpacking, we made our way up to the concierge, MJ, who we introduced ourselves to and enjoyed a nice chat with. We informed him of the misprint and he said that it should be no issue and we could keep the cards and use them like normal. He told us that the card, internally, is still set to our room, which is a sky class.

Day 2 comes and we're in the suite lounge where a bar tender takes our orders, asks for our sea pass cards, and upon returning, says that we have the wrong cards. We informed her that we know they are misprinted, but were told it's ok to use them. She carried on without incident. Later in the day, we were back in the suite lounge again and once again, the same bar tender says we have the wrong cards and need to go get them re-printed at guest services. We said ok since we thought she didn't understand us earlier.

Fast forward to day 4, after our first stop, we once again had this lady as our bar tender. We were skeptical to order from her because of previous encounters with her, but did so anyways. This time she took a while to come back. In the 20 minutes she was gone, someone else had brought us our drinks and she came back with new sea pass cards that she went and had printed at guest services. When she returned, she nearly ripped our originally misprinted cards out of our other group members hand. Needless to say, at this point, we were very upset. 

After this incident, I informed our concierge and guest services of the incident, who then contacted the bar tenders boss. The officer met me and concierge MJ at guest services where I explained what happened. They informed me that she acted out of line and should never have done something like that. We talked about the situation where we all agreed that she was completely in the wrong. The guest services attendant explained that she came down to the front desk and said that the guests would like their sea pass cards reprinted to the correct type. (Which we weren't planning to do as we were told it was fine to use.)

Anyways, after the report, the bar tender was taken out of the suite lounge for the remainder of the cruise, but we never received any further communication about the incident. This was a major inconvenience for everyone in the other group we were travelling with, as they weren't properly informed that their new cards would be the only useful cards that would get them off the ship. Needless to say, the rest of the cruise was a debacle on which cards could and couldn't be used. 

I know our situation was probably very rare, but I don't think the bar tender handled it well at all. Nearly getting physical with a guest over the color of a card, even though we were told it wouldn't matter and all the necessary information is stored in the computer when they are supposed to swipe the cards. Our benefits aligned with sky class no matter the color of card.

Has anyone else had similar situations or heard of similar events happening and causing great inconvenience? 

We recently sailed on the Allure of the Seas out of Galveston. After being the first ones to board, we got to our room later in the day to discover that our light blue Sky Class Suite sea pass cards had been misprinted to the purple cards for Star Class Suite guests. After getting settled in and unpacking, we made our way up to the concierge, MJ, who we introduced ourselves to and enjoyed a nice chat with. We informed him of the misprint and he said that it should be no issue and we could keep the cards and use them like normal. He told us that the card, internally, is still set to our room, which is a sky class.

Day 2 comes and we're in the suite lounge where a bar tender takes our orders, asks for our sea pass cards, and upon returning, says that we have the wrong cards. We informed her that we know they are misprinted, but were told it's ok to use them. She carried on without incident. Later in the day, we were back in the suite lounge again and once again, the same bar tender says we have the wrong cards and need to go get them re-printed at guest services. We said ok since we thought she didn't understand us earlier.

Fast forward to day 4, after our first stop, we once again had this lady as our bar tender. We were skeptical to order from her because of previous encounters with her, but did so anyways. This time she took a while to come back. In the 20 minutes she was gone, someone else had brought us our drinks and she came back with new sea pass cards that she went and had printed at guest services. When she returned, she nearly ripped our originally misprinted cards out of our other group members hand. Needless to say, at this point, we were very upset. 

After this incident, I informed our concierge and guest services of the incident, who then contacted the bar tenders boss. The officer met me and concierge MJ at guest services where I explained what happened. They informed me that she acted out of line and should never have done something like that. We talked about the situation where we all agreed that she was completely in the wrong. The guest services attendant explained that she came down to the front desk and said that the guests would like their sea pass cards reprinted to the correct type. (Which we weren't planning to do as we were told it was fine to use.)

Anyways, after the report, the bar tender was taken out of the suite lounge for the remainder of the cruise, but we never received any further communication about the incident. This was a major inconvenience for everyone in the other group we were travelling with, as they weren't properly informed that their new cards would be the only useful cards that would get them off the ship. Needless to say, the rest of the cruise was a debacle on which cards could and couldn't be used. 

I know our situation was probably very rare, but I don't think the bar tender handled it well at all. Nearly getting physical with a guest over the color of a card, even though we were told it wouldn't matter and all the necessary information is stored in the computer when they are supposed to swipe the cards. Our benefits aligned with sky class no matter the color of card.

Has anyone else had similar situations or heard of similar events happening and causing great inconvenience? 

Can confirm, just talked to one of the managers of ice games, Igor, who stated that this is a completely new, choreographed show. He said that this is very rare for them to completely change the choreographed show, but this is an exception to the usual “keep the same show.”

38 days away and shows are now available to book starting today. Also, a new show has been added to our cruise. Be on the lookout for "Blue Planet!"

The Suite Concierge is very specific about when they respond. They have a specific time throughout the day where they will respond to emails for the upcoming sailing, and it seems they are busy tending to the needs of the current passengers most of the day. When writing an email to them, I try to provide as much information as I can to make the most out of the email.

I was able to reserve all dining and shows on the nights that we wished 4 days before the cruise left. I asked the concierge to send me the list of shows, which they did the next day. I was able to send them this list of dining and I replicated this same list for the shows throughout the week that we could reserve. They prefer a list such as this one as it gives them clear information as to the day, the restaurant, the time, and how many people will be in your party.

 
SUITE #
 Day
Date
Port
Day
Restaurant
Time
# of Guests
8660 / 8654 
SATURDAY
11-Jun
MIAMI, FLORIDA
1
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
SUNDAY
12-Jun
AT SEA
2
HOOKED
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
MONDAY
13-Jun
SAN JUAN, PR
3
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
TUESDAY
14-Jun
ST. THOMAS
4
CHOP'S
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
WEDNESDAY
15-Jun
ST. MAARTEN
5
COASTAL KITCHEN
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
THURSDAY
16-Jun
AT SEA
6
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
FRIDAY
17-Jun
COCOCAY, BAHAMAS
7
JAMIE'S
7:00 PM
7

The Suite Concierge is very specific about when they respond. They have a specific time throughout the day where they will respond to emails for the upcoming sailing, and it seems they are busy tending to the needs of the current passengers most of the day. When writing an email to them, I try to provide as much information as I can to make the most out of the email.

I was able to reserve all dining and shows on the nights that we wished 4 days before the cruise left. I asked the concierge to send me the list of shows, which they did the next day. I was able to send them this list of dining and I replicated this same list for the shows throughout the week that we could reserve. They prefer a list such as this one as it gives them clear information as to the day, the restaurant, the time, and how many people will be in your party.

 
SUITE #
 Day
Date
Port
Day
Restaurant
Time
# of Guests
8660 / 8654 
SATURDAY
11-Jun
MIAMI, FLORIDA
1
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
SUNDAY
12-Jun
AT SEA
2
HOOKED
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
MONDAY
13-Jun
SAN JUAN, PR
3
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
TUESDAY
14-Jun
ST. THOMAS
4
CHOP'S
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
WEDNESDAY
15-Jun
ST. MAARTEN
5
COASTAL KITCHEN
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
THURSDAY
16-Jun
AT SEA
6
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
FRIDAY
17-Jun
COCOCAY, BAHAMAS
7
JAMIE'S
7:00 PM
7

The Suite Concierge is very specific about when they respond. They have a specific time throughout the day where they will respond to emails for the upcoming sailing, and it seems they are busy tending to the needs of the current passengers most of the day. When writing an email to them, I try to provide as much information as I can to make the most out of the email.

I was able to reserve all dining and shows on the nights that we wished 4 days before the cruise left. I asked the concierge to send me the list of shows, which they did the next day. I was able to send them this list of dining and I replicated this same list for the shows throughout the week that we could reserve. They prefer a list such as this one as it gives them clear information as to the day, the restaurant, the time, and how many people will be in your party.

 
SUITE #
 Day
Date
Port
Day
Restaurant
Time
# of Guests
8660 / 8654 
SATURDAY
11-Jun
MIAMI, FLORIDA
1
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
SUNDAY
12-Jun
AT SEA
2
HOOKED
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
MONDAY
13-Jun
SAN JUAN, PR
3
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
TUESDAY
14-Jun
ST. THOMAS
4
CHOP'S
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
WEDNESDAY
15-Jun
ST. MAARTEN
5
COASTAL KITCHEN
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
THURSDAY
16-Jun
AT SEA
6
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
FRIDAY
17-Jun
COCOCAY, BAHAMAS
7
JAMIE'S
7:00 PM
7

Booked for June 11th - group of 8 traveling from Louisiana to board and coming down a day early. Make sure not to forget to reserve parking, the earlier the better. Check out All Things Galveston by Galveston Steve for more info on how the parking works.
 

The Suite Concierge is very specific about when they respond. They have a specific time throughout the day where they will respond to emails for the upcoming sailing, and it seems they are busy tending to the needs of the current passengers most of the day. When writing an email to them, I try to provide as much information as I can to make the most out of the email.

I was able to reserve all dining and shows on the nights that we wished 4 days before the cruise left. I asked the concierge to send me the list of shows, which they did the next day. I was able to send them this list of dining and I replicated this same list for the shows throughout the week that we could reserve. They prefer a list such as this one as it gives them clear information as to the day, the restaurant, the time, and how many people will be in your party.

 
SUITE #
 Day
Date
Port
Day
Restaurant
Time
# of Guests
8660 / 8654 
SATURDAY
11-Jun
MIAMI, FLORIDA
1
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
SUNDAY
12-Jun
AT SEA
2
HOOKED
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
MONDAY
13-Jun
SAN JUAN, PR
3
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
TUESDAY
14-Jun
ST. THOMAS
4
CHOP'S
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
WEDNESDAY
15-Jun
ST. MAARTEN
5
COASTAL KITCHEN
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
THURSDAY
16-Jun
AT SEA
6
MY TIME DINING
7:00 PM
7
8660 / 8654 
FRIDAY
17-Jun
COCOCAY, BAHAMAS
7
JAMIE'S
7:00 PM
7

Allure of the Seas - June 11, 2023

Booked for June 11th - group of 8 traveling from Louisiana to board and coming down a day early. Make sure not to forget to reserve parking, the earlier the better. Check out All Things Galveston by Galveston Steve for more info on how the parking works.
 

Allure of the Seas - June 11, 2023

I've had a similar experience to yours and I find that it's easiest to just wait out the phone lines and be able to speak to someone to get the promotion or support you need. I have sent numerous emails that get no reply at all. The one's that were responded to didn't happen within the week. I had a screenshot of the discount, but was told over the phone that they wouldn't accept a screenshot and that once it expired they aren't able to re-create the promotion. I think it'd be really great for Royal Caribbean to add in a live chat feature for simple help rather than offer email as a means of communication. Live chat would be able to help deal with the high call volumes of people who are inquiring about cruises or are calling to ask questions. It would also allow support reps to be able to handle multiple chats at one time rather than just one call.

We are currently on the Allure now.
Some observations about the new terminal:
Directional signage could be better coming down Harborside Drive.  Once you turn left the very first entrance was the South Lot, I believe. Signage is located on the traffic lights and lots are identified by N, S.  Noticed several drivers having difficulty navigating and then changing lanes, two drivers almost hit us.
We had reservations in the North Lot. Attendant at the gate took our QR code and scanned it for us, great service. If you have Premium, it looked as if you entered the same gate and then proceeded to the covered parking and another gate. 
From the North Lot it is a very short walk with your luggage to the terminal. We were quickly met by a luggage porter, who provided great service.
We had family parked in the South Lot. They caught the shuttle with their luggage, wait was minimal.
So far so good!  
Terminal is beautiful, and spacious.
Once upstairs to check-in things started to slow.  
We had an 11:00am arrival, which was postponed by an hour by RCCL the night before, so were about an 11:45am arrival.
In my opinion, somewhat chaotic as far as what lines to get in for check-in, seems they are still working that out.   We had 3 different reservations checking in; one went really fast, another so-so, and the third had several computer issues.  They had a RCCL tech guy trying to handle multiple issues with agents. New terminal you just expect it, no big deal.
Then it came to a crawl getting through security check, line was super backed up!  If I recall, there are about 8 luggage screening machines with 4 walk through people screeners, think TSA at airports.  They only had 2 of the people screeners and 4 luggage screeners opened initially. 
We will reach Diamond status in January and we've embarked from (FLL, Miami, San Juan, Rome, Barcelona, New Orleans and Galveston), this was the longest check-in that I can remember.
Once through security the process was much faster and better.
All in all, super glad to have an Oasis class ship and new terminal in Galveston!  They will get the kinks worked out and I'm sure it will be a super smooth process!