monorailmedic

There is no obligation for everyone in the room to have the same (or any) drink package. One person can have a package and the others nothing, or any combination. I only drink espresso (and American coffee if put in front of me), so I'm not the authority on this but I beleive "espresso drinks" and "specialty coffees" are one in the same for the purposes of drink packages, coffee cards, and such.

This bar menu from January should get you an idea of various drink prices: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/generic-bar-menu There are coffee cards and non-alcoholic drink packages that may also be of interest: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/11/29/spotted-cafe-select-coffee-card-offers-specialty-coffee-beverages https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/09/01/depth-look-royal-caribbeans-royal-replenish-drink-package This article has some of the basics on drink packages covered: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/generic-bar-menu As far as sharing, well, if they notice the package will be revoked without refund - seems like a good reason not to do it right out the gate IMO, all moral reasons aside. Further, they only serve one drink at a time, so you'll find yourself splitting things and hiding it from staff all to save the price of a drink. Look into the packages and determine which is right for each of you, if you have pretty predicable patterns in what you drink and when, it works out to be pretty simple math.

Nope. As long as he has cell service on shore (or WiFi and Wifi calling) he can call anyone he wants anywhere. If you have WiFi calling (b/c you're connecting to Voom), then anyone can contact you (and you can call anyone) - just like if you were connected at home or anywhere else. Voom is just the name for the ship's WiFi service, and WiFi calling is just something which allows your phone to work completely normally, just like at home, as long as you've got WiFi. Your son will pick up his phone, call your phone, and if you're on Voom and have WiFi calling on then your phone will ring and you'll chat. Does this clear things up? Lemme know if not, I'll be glad to rephrase.

If someone has service on the shore, whether via cellular or WiFi calling at a cafe (for example) and someone else has service on the ship (in this case via Voom, so you're phone needs to support WiFi calling as well), then you're in business. If you wanted to not rely on WiFI calling and such, then WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Hangouts, etc could be used over data. Here's an article on the site about staying in touch on your RCI cruise: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/27/how-stay-touch-someone-your-royal-caribbean-cruise

I'm summoning Nick V but not sure his username. He has a good chance of knowing. When was your sailing?

I don't think I've checked on RCI, but in many hotels you can just unplug the HDMI port coming from the IPTV or other device and plug yours in the same place. Another technique is to bring a universal remote, as some places lock the TV to prevent changing the input, other places just don't allow the remotes to do it, and the TV itself doesn't always have the hardware buttons to make the switch.

I thought I remembered seeing two non-alcoholic beers onboard recently but am struggling to think of where (which makes me doubt my own memory). I know for sure I've seen O'douls on board. I'll DM you with some additional ways to dig.

I'm sure it's someone's job at RCI to look at how many people passengers from west of the Mississippi, what types of cruises they take, and how loyal they are to the brand.

Should be roughly $35 for Uber/Lyft or $84 via a cab. Know that South Florida traffic can be insane, so depening on the time of day this can vary quite a bit. I've actually got a post about getting around in this area pre/post cruise. I'm also local to South Florida, so reach out if you have any questions. http://www.cruisehabit.com/uber-lyft-cabs-shuttles-how-get-and-your-cruise-easily-cheaply

Yup. Mine was a minibar charge and based on how quick and easy it went, I'm betting phone reps are empowered to reverse charges under a certain dollar ammount (it's been over a year, but I think mine was for around $10). I said that I didn't take anything from the minibar and the rep said, "okay, you should see a refund to your card within x days".

Check your email, you should have a PDF of the statement emailed to you shortly after disembarking. If not, yes, RCI can provide that. I know not becuase I've requested it but I did call after a cruise to dispute a charge (which they made painless, FWIW), and they were able to see and discuss the charges - so I'd be shocked to find they can't send the invoice to you.

It hasn't anything to do with actually opening it. You could certainly paya corkage fee on a screw-top bottle.

While I've seen lamb curry and chicken I've not seen any West Indies carries - though there is a chance I've just not noticed.

That's the smart money

I'm interested to hear more, but I find this terrifically unlikely. Perhaps a change is coming to it? When NCL started the "Freestyle Cruising" almost every line adopted some of the basics (especially around dining) in short order b/c it was a huge success, and customers, as far as I can tell, continue to demand that option, which I wouldn't think represents a very large cost to cruise lines. Anything could happen - let's see.

I usually keep a little bit of cash to tip for room service or similar utility. You can check all or none of your bags - just be sure that any wine you're bringing is hand-carried. Simply provide to a porter (along w/ a tip of a couple dollars a bag) the bags you want to check, and if you don't have tags on them already, the porter can help you with this. You should carry on anything you'll need before say, 1800 on embarkation day. This means pool clothes, medications, etc.

I'll be awaiting my booking confirmation.

They shouldn't be selling the same cabin twice. Overbooking should always have to do with the GTY categories. That's not to say that mistakes don't happen - but they'd be taking one heck of a gamble booking a specific room twice :-)

I'll just leave this here: http://paypal.me/billyhirsch/25

Fantastic point.

Wow - so I started to reply and it got long, which inspired a post over on my site, to which I'll like below. In short, this happens because cruise lines really don't want to sail empty - they'd rather pay guests to back out than they would lose revenue by not filling a ship. It's gone on for years, just like with airlines, but gets more attention now. Back in January I was given the option to cancel, and in exchange, I got a credit for the value of my cruise (plus a refund). I took it, and feel pretty good about that decision - but I could have simply said no. In the below article I go into detail about this practice and also link to my personal story when I cancelled my Indy sailing. http://www.cruisehabit.com/just-airlines-cruise-lines-overbook-–-and-it’s-nothing-new Let us know how this pans out for you, firegal , and remember - if you don't think the offer is worth it, just say no.

If you're using a compatible Windows 10 machine (or other compatible device) you could get a miracast dongle like the one below. I do this in hotels as it's a direct communication from your device to the dongle (or TV w/ built in miracast). http://amzn.to/2pZG6YM

I remember on Allure specifically b/c on the other RCI cruises we sailed until Navi I always complained, "why don't they have curry in the morning like they did on Allure!?" Larissa wasn't sick of that whining or anything.

Allure GC had curry as well. That was my first RCCL sailing, when I had no idea how cramped that WJ was...

Do they use the pro version or the standard one? I went with the standard as one of the appeals of the SMOVE to me is that the regular one is quite portable and has a batt built in. If I want more bulk I can use a steadycam, my DSLR, and a fullsize shotgun mic ;-)