CanHardlyWait

May the 4th be with you!

I booked for this May 4th on day one Oct 2022 and thank God! $1150 per person for interior GTY. I feel like we won the lottery compared to everyone else. No way I would pay $6k for a week. So glad I got caught up in the day one booking hype around here.

May 4th Icon on sale today for $40.00 buck's! And I thought that was a good price. LOL. It still looks too loud and cramped for me. But I did buy a bed by the hideaway pool on board for $239 (twice). I'm ashamed of myself, but I don't have to get up and out at 6am. Sadly the videos of that pool area are looking loud/party vibe also. Miss a calm solarium.

This I why I book and handle everything myself. I was an agent on and off for 10 years and any idiot can get the gig.

That was Mariner in September. They couldn't get folks to go to the specialty restaurants. Walking around the Windjammer every breakfast trying to get people to make a reservation.

I'm pushing 56 and aging like month old milk! But like I've said in the past. With every new dentist and doctor appointment, when I'm told my parts aren't working so well anymore, I always say they are vintage. Like a Chanel Suit. LOL.

Book a hotel in Downtown Jersey City. Take the path train (the subway system bet NJ and NY) to and from NYC. There is NOTHING walkable at the Newark Airport Hotels. Take Uber/taxi etc to downtown Jersey City waterfront hotel. Take Path Train to and from Manhattan. Take Uber/taxi from hotel to Port. I lived there for 40 years. I promise this is a better option than staying at an airport hotel. Also, please consider not doing a red eye flight. It's such a bad way to start your trip. If you have questions about specific hotel's or other just ask.

Have a blast kid!!!

Depends on what you want. I personally wouldn't mix beach time other locations. Wet clothes, sand, sunscreen, etc. Do you want some down time swimming enjoying the water/view etc? Can't comment on pirate museum, never done it. Have on other island's and never is anything special. Have done the sky ride. It's a fun way to kill a half hour. You can taxi to beach and back. It's $15 or $18 per person each way. depending on what port your ship is docked at. Plus (I think??) $7 entry to beach, was $5 but thought it went up. 99 out of 100 times this still turns out cheaper in total than Royals excursion. Or pay the $65 ish pp and do via Royal. For me after 3 or 4 hours at a beach I want dry clothes and sand out of my places. LOL. So I don't mix the 2. Just my two cents.

I keep attributing a lot of it to casino crowds bring out the freak in people? Too much smoke and no fresh air, so I totally miss out on this crowd. Thankfully. I'm too old to even watch these games being played out. LOL.

Check out Delta credit card perks. First bag free for each member of the reservation. Cancel card upon return. AKA under 365 days before yearly $99 fee kicks in.

And if the service stinks you have two choices. Tip less or complain about the server to their employer. Big deal "they are not happy about it". The old rule of service was leave nothing but a quarter next to the bill on the table. That meant your service stunk. It was considered kinder than complaining to there employer. Basically giving them a heads up to improve before someone does complain. Nobody today knows this hack. Too old. Like me. LOL But to tip someone who did a poor job because it's expected is how this crazy tipping culture got out of hand in the first place. Nobody gets 20% from me for fear of "attitude". It's my attitude that must be feared. LOL.

Luggage is luggage at embarkation. You can check a 20 inch bag just as easily as a 28 inch. That said. I wouldn't bogg myself down with too much carry on luggage for a flight personally. The $30 bucks to check a bag is always worth it for me. Check to see if they charge for carry on bags also. Many carriers now charge for them as well. Also check out the airlines credit card. Most offer first checked bag free for each member of the reservation. That could be 4 free bags for a party of 4 each way. Most charge a yearly membership fee after the first 365 days. You can open account, use it's perks, and cancel after trip. Never having spent on a yearly subscription. Bottom line. Cruising involves multiple clothes changes per day. Schlepping to much carry on luggage on and off flights is a not so fun way to start a trip. Just something to think about.

That might be fine for the rest of the crew, but cabin attendants and waitstaff (directly serving guests) have the opportunity to increase earnings based on performance. My take: You included in cruise fare and run the risk of mediocre performance by employees. That results in higher turnover due to the constant letting go of under performing staff. Firing, hiring, training, etc all costs money Royal is too cheap to put out. So they try to dump the expense of labor on the customer with the current system. Again, bring cash and tip directly. Don't not tip at all. Tipping daily saves time on last full day.

You know you claimed to not want to tell people how to tip and then say this last ditch statement all people make in this argument. LOL. What would be the point of telling staff? Hopefully to try even harder for a cash tip. Not to give it bare minimum because an automatic gratuity isn't coming. To answer your question about being curious how service changes when this is done. It's been my experience that service stays exactly the same. If anything it improves. If anyone has concerns about service changing wait till 2 days before end of trip to have automatic gratuities removed. I personally think the crew should know. That way the hay a chance to really try hard for your cash. But knowing and doing less will only result in another trip to guest services to complain about them and try and get them sacked for bad service. Treating guests with cash in their pockets less than because of removal would be shooting themselves in the foot. I also recommend splashing some cash on day one. It let's them know you roll cash in hand. I give my cabin attendant $40 when we meet and say just keep the clean towels coming. Bang we understand each other. Same in MDR. Also, know your schedule. If you won't be in MDR every night, tip as you go. It's an extra trip to run around last night with cash for everyone.

You know you claimed to not want to tell people how to tip and then say this last ditch statement all people make in this argument. LOL. What would be the point of telling staff? Hopefully to try even harder for a cash tip. Not to give it bare minimum because an automatic gratuity isn't coming. To answer your question about being curious how service changes when this is done. It's been my experience that service stays exactly the same. If anything it improves. If anyone has concerns about service changing wait till 2 days before end of trip to have automatic gratuities removed. I personally think the crew should know. That way the hay a chance to really try hard for your cash. But knowing and doing less will only result in another trip to guest services to complain about them and try and get them sacked for bad service. Treating guests with cash in their pockets less than because of removal would be shooting themselves in the foot. I also recommend splashing some cash on day one. It let's them know you roll cash in hand. I give my cabin attendant $40 when we meet and say just keep the clean towels coming. Bang we understand each other. Same in MDR. Also, know your schedule. If you won't be in MDR every night, tip as you go. It's an extra trip to run around last night with cash for everyone.

OK, you have to ask your brother what lable / designer / store etc his shirts are from. I'm seeing a certain style and taking guesses at the lable. He's always styling. LOL.

Love the photos. Your smile made my day!

If I had to see the ads the site would not be worth my time. As there are just too many of them. One banner ad at the top of each page would be acceptable, but pop ups I won't deal with. I view this site religiously on YouTube and happily view endless commercials. However, Pop Up ads are like strobe lighting to me. My eyes just can't handle it. Pop Up add blockers exist. And so do websites that use pop up ads. So it all works out.

Download Duckduckgo from Google Play store. Use that as your browser for this site.

I'm all for leaving tips. I just advocate being honest (if even asked) about removal. Please folks no fake complaints against crew members is required.

I have mine blocked on my phone. Use DuckDuckGo or something.

And that means nothing. Is someone who doesn't like that system and wants to tip in cash ever going to be happy? Your playing word games. This is like suggested attire in the MDR. Bottom line is you can remove, without being questioned. Why complain about service? So now people who read what your saying will feel they need to complain about potentially great service because they feel an excuse like that is required. Dangerous game to play with a crew members job. This is why Royal seems to have a don't ask, don't tell policy. Occasionally they may say is everything OK? And trust me hearing yes followed by whatever like I tipping cash makes them happy they don't have a complaint on there hands. I can't speak for others but my last trip automatic gratuities would have been $240. I spent $765 in cash tips. Made specific people very happy. Frankly the services of those I did not have individual contact with stunk anyway. Public restrooms were discussing etc. But I'm not falling for subsidizing the crews salary. Pay your executives less. Pay your share holders less. Pay your employees more. Next time I will trash a random specific employee to justify the quote think is gospel. See that doesn't sound right. Just be honest. Repeat....Royal Caribbean guest services does not require a reason of poor unsatisfactory service to remove automatic gratuities. I can understand not agreeing with folks who do this. That's your right. Free country and all. But don't twist the reasons acceptable by interpreting the quote the way you see fit vs how it's actually done. And how it actually plays out. It's an option that exists. And that's how it works and plays out. Cash tippers aren't cheap. They just don't fall for the mind games. There is nothing gratuity about automatic gratuities. I know...I know. I'm the devil now. A. It's how I feel. B. It's how it really works / plays out when people do it.

Officially that's garbage and totally not true. Your "reason" can be whatever the heck you feel like it should be. Would you rather people made up fake complaints against the crew? Rather than just saying I prefer to tip in cash? And for the record. How many times in the past 12 months have you gone to guest services to ask they be removed? Because if you haven't, you will not know they do not ask. Why? Because it is "Officially" your choice.