mistertomatohead

Huh? What does this even mean? It's literally in the name. I'm new to cruising and I like hearing about these issues especially after the shutdown because everything seems to be different. The experience seems very different. The cruise lines seem to treat their guests very differently. I'll leave it at that. People can decide if it's better or worse. I also don't buy the they all do it argument. Some do it better. It's all in the details. Personally, if a cruise line did this to me I'd be pretty mad. I'd give another cruise line my business (and the chance to do the same to me again.) But that's how it goes these days.

Is that confirmed? Sounds like a rumor at this point. People have medical issues on cruises all the time.

Mexico is not dangerous?!? Any place can be dangerous. It depends where you go, when, what you're doing, who you're with, luck, etc. Most tourist areas are relatively safe. Most of the time you are there during the day with lots of other tourists. They protect those tourist areas with armed security or paramilitary police if necessary. You have to be aware of your surroundings everywhere and use common sense. For example, don't be alone, drunk, in some sketchy place late at night buying "adult candy" or "party favors." For what it's worth, I have an NCL cruise coming next week that goes to Ensenada, Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlán. It's proceeding as planned. I've been on a couple of cruises to Mexico while there were bad "news" reported. The cruise lines did not change their plans or even referenced the danger. It doesn't mean something bad can happen but personally I never worried. That's just me of course. Someone mentioned France, have you been watching the news? Avoid those particular areas. Haha.

Is it just a cleaning or do they set the room for sleeping? You know, turn down service. Chocolates, night light and set up the bunk/sofa beds. Or has this never been a Royal thing? EDIT: sounds like they will still do this. Then the question is do you want to make them visit you twice if you need the sleep setup? Then there's the tipping for this if they do visit twice since it's not the norm but then the number of the people in the cabin is already figured into the gratuities. Oh whatever, I'll just go with the flow. Do whatever you want Royal!

If the rules allow it, do you need a parent's permission? I'm guessing no. Can a parent not allow it? Seems pretty hard to enforce. I guess if there's a concern, they shouldn't be on that cruise. They could make everyone from 18-20 wear bracelets. One color for drinker, one for non-drinker. Keycard indicates if you're 18-20 so servers know to check the bracelet. Sounds complicated but it doesn't seem like OP chimed in on the responses. They specifically mentioned parent's permission. Maybe they're under 21..heh. On another note, everything's fine until someone is clearly drunk. What then? Oh, they're just seasick.

It’s not just Covid. I got the cough whatever thing going around in December and now I’m good for 30 total cruise days after that. I guess I’ve built up some immunity. I saw people wearing masks on those cruises. I’m not sure if they’re sick or trying not to get sick. Doesn’t really matter at this point.

They do not ask for proof at the time of the sailing so it’s the honor system for this part. Yes, you can buy and just sell immediately but that isn’t the point of this benefit. They want you to be a long term investor.

The real question is can you share or just give away the lobster? This is a good reason to eat with strangers.

They gave me a receipt most of the time to sign even if it showed everything zeroed out so I could've added extra tip there. I went to Chops so much they stopped giving me a receipt later in the cruise. I had to ask for one to give them something extra at the end. As for if extra is added automatically it isn't. Like the beverage package, people will drink or eat less or more than the amount paid in the package. It's up to you to keep up with your amount if you want. There was no way I covered the tips on the $1000 I calculated I ate on my $250 UDP. With drinks, especially on NCL with their overpriced drink package I end up pre-paying more on tips than I actually drink. I suppose you can say the same for the MDR if you ordered multiple entrees or how messy you made your room. What if you kept your room really clean and housekeeping actually didn't need to service you some days? How about if you went to the buffet, MDR, and specialty restaurants for dinner? It's all up to you in the end.

Does it matter? They run your card each time, right? Or do they sometimes get lazy and just give you a water or coke without putting the card through the system? Sometimes they might do that because they know you have the package so it might be hard to tell what's happening.

Is there a (big) price difference between all included and buying separately for just one person, especially when adding the soda package? Classic is $106.8/day per person, Zero Proof (soda, premium bottle water, coffees, Red Bull, Soda, etc.) is $36/day per person. Maybe they have sales? You can also just bring two wine bottles* and a 12 pack of soda and pay for extra drinks as you go. Then again, I sense the other person is drinking a lot themselves or perhaps for two. (And I'm not talking about a phantom baby.) *contents unknown Seems like they are doing what they can to make the decision easy for people and at the same time upsale you to "All Included."

Try it at home first with your WIFI (not your mobile cellular since your carrier might be blocking it). It should rule out Royal doing something on their network specifically to block it.

@IGRWhich ship exactly? I've never done it on Royal. I've only been on Navigator but I've avoided needing Internet so far. I have cruises coming up on the NCL Gem and Carnival Miracle which I will have Internet so I'll be sharing the connection again assuming it works the same way.

Why do you say no? I've done this on Celebrity, NCL, and Carnival ships. My Samsung phone connects to WIFI and has the ability to be a hotspot through bluetooth which my iPad uses to connect to the Internet.

I can't tell the difference so I'm the wrong person to say. The picture of the Royal menu in the other thread indicates Maine lobster... I can't remember seeing that on the Celebrity menu but that's just me not paying attention.