Ryan79

Same exact menu as I’ve had in the past several years

I’ve never bought a drink package and always drink whatever I want. For my wife and I, we usually come out ahead by $400-500 by buying individual drinks. If your itinerary is port intensive, then it’s much harder to break even than if you have a sea day heavy itinerary. 

Don’t look at one from last year. Look at one from last week!!

I wouldn’t plan on being able to go anytime in the immediate future. 

It’s gone down since the pandemic. I think almost everyone will agree with that and probably won’t be back to that level anytime soon, if ever. Menus have significantly been reduced. No more all you can eat lobster. No more apple blossom for dinner. MDR is hit or miss these days, but of course that is going to be both very subjective and vary widely for each sailing. A good meal can still be had though. I’ve still had more good ones than bad ones in the last 4 years, but overall quality has certainly gone down.

9-1 and brunch is only on sea days

I would be stressed. As was mentioned above, the port will not be staffed to handle those embarking after the cut off time. Royal has ZERO control over this. You might get a phone agent tell you it’s OK, but phone agents don’t have all the info and have been known to wing it! The ship being docked for 28 hours has to do with logistics, not an extended period to take on late passengers. There is a reason for the 3:30 cut off on the 27th and I would take that very seriously. You wouldn’t be the first one to show up after the final boarding call and left ashore. I’d seriously look into changing that flight to the 26th. Any increase in airfare cost has to be cheaper than the cost of missing the final boarding call. 

Almost everyone on board is going to be more concerned with their own vacation, than to worry about you. Of course there is always a chance you will run into someone who has had too much to drink and cannot keep their thoughts to themselves.  That will be the situation anywhere. As long as you aren’t being “look at me! Look at me!” obnoxious, 99.99% of the people on board will barely even notice your existence other than you being an obstacle in the buffet line! LOL That goes for EVERYONE. Don’t overthink it and just enjoy your trip. You be you!!!! 

There is no self laundry options outside of washing your clothes by hand in your bathroom sink. 

They just show up when they show up. It’s fairly random. I have excursions for a June 2025 sailing that have been showing up for a while for all ports. And when they do show up, that isn’t necessarily all that will ever show up. Additions to the excursion offerings will happen at random times. Some may not show up until a few weeks before your sailing date. You just have to keep checking. Sold out excursions will still show up in your CP, but they will indicate being sold out. 

They are a very well established and reputable booking site. As with Royal, they are a broker as opposed to the company that actually operates the excursions. However getting in contact with the actual vendor is quite easy should you have any questions or issues. I use them for ALL of my excursions that I don’t book directly with Royal or other cruise lines

It won’t let you book anything within 2 hours of each other. That’s standard for all dining reservations. I’ve never needed reservations for SB as it’s rarely crowded for dinner. 

Be prepared for anything. I was there last summer and it was WARM!!!! The previous time to Alaska it was nothing but rain and fog. Boots or hiking shoes are only needed if you are actually planning on hiking. 

I’ve done this about 10 times and no one has so much as batted an eye! Not having my kids in the same cabin with the wife and I is magical!! 

There is no standard timetable. Things appear when they appear and it’s not all at once either. On one sailing I had items that populated 18 months before embarkation and others that popped up 10 days before. You just have to keep checking and one day, without notice, you will see something there or new.

1 bathroom for 4 people, 2 of whom are teenagers… No thanks! Spend the $$ and at least get 2 interiors. I have 2 teenagers myself and I couldn’t imagine having to share that small bathroom with them and my wife!

It’s hit or miss by sailing and even within the same sailing. I’ve had great meals one night, only to have a bad one the following. There is no consistent answer, because the product isn’t consistent. If you happen to have a bad experience, there are other free meal options available that you can make a straight line towards. Even a meal at Playmakers or the pub isn’t a bad option and much cheaper than specialty dining, in my opinion

2 hours ago, TXCoastPatriot said:

Sadly very true, and very disappointing.  Looks like I'll be booking on Celebrity Eclipse today.  No issues with Celebrity but I loose so many perks with our D+ and Signature with Casino Royale.  Thank you for the update.

Take a look at Princess. I’ve got a June 2025 British Isle cruise booked with them and it’s a great itinerary…better than the Royal one for 2024 for sure.

Don’t count on more spots opening up. It’s quite rare for it to happen. You should look into booking something through a 3rd party excursion vendor

Intercontinental Miami or Kimpton EPIC are two amazing hotels with great location.

25 minutes ago, Fastfaller said:

I booked adjoining balcony rooms. It's a bonus because my wife doesn't drink much and now I can get the DBP for just me since I am the only adult in the room.

I always do the exact same thing for the exact same reason!! Adjoining balcony is the way to go with teenagers for the extra bathroom, if nothing else. 

No way I would want to be stressing out about this during my cruise!! To add what was mentioned above, you will also have to hope & pray for short luggage drop off lines and short TSA lines. One thing goes wrong and you are kaput! Yes, it’s possible to make it….but are you willing to make that gamble and have a back up plan? 

I think the obstruction is the barrier on the end of the balconies that goes all the way up. The other barriers between cabins don’t, so it might be obstructed to see forward unless if you are standing at the railing. That’s what it looks like to me. 

I did this class on Quantum in July 2023 and there was 15-20 people. I couldn’t even imagine 80!!!!

There is no benefit to having the Key when visiting Coco Cay.