monorailmedic

Adam Conover is my final form.

Remembering that regardless of what we call these costs, they are the staff's pay - not extra for going above and beyon. I agree, to that extent, that the way this is done is poor - but without going off on a tangent I think it's broken throughout North America. The problem is that some may decline to pay based on that obligation without thinking about the fact that this doesn't send nearly as much of a message to the company and those who set the policy as it does to those who work for those service charges. If someone (say a stateroom attendant) doesn't put a solid level of effort forth, then I can certainly understand and support adjusting the ammount that goes to that person. I completely agree to voting with your wallet, but if your intention is to cast a vote expressing your discontent for the policy, then that is best accomplished by calling and writing RCI, filling out those post-cruise surveys, and yes, voting with your wallet and sailing a cruise line with different policies on this (you see where that part quickly becomes hard though).

You're able to adjust gratuities at guest services. I'm not sure if it would be any easier or more difficult at any given point during your cruise. That in mind, I must editorialize for a moment and point out (to anyone reading), that regardless of the name (gratuities, services, charges, etc) or one's opinion on the way gratuities are handled, these gratuities represent the lion's share of the income of the hard-working people that receive them and work hard to make your trip enjoyable. As such, I see them as the "price of admission" for a cruise. If there is anything during a sailing that is not up to snuff, speak with guest services or the appropriate supervisor to see if it can be worked out before reducing gratuities. If you care to tip on top of the amount automatically charged to your onboard account, you can opt to do that with guest services, or simply provide cash to those who make your trip more enjoyable.

Drink package prices vary somewhat by sailing and sales do sometimes come up. I'd recommend purchasing the drink package, and then rechecking the price every so often. At least in the US, if it comes up cheaper later, you can cancel and buy it again at the lower price.

If you're booking a Royal Caribbean cruise for a sail date that is not within final payment you have the option of using the 'bonus' OBC on your current sailing or on your future sailing. You're allowed to book sailings for others (there is a restriction on the number of bookings you can make for others, I forget though). It's quite easy as you really just need their name - they ask other things (like DOB) but that can be filled in later. Note you can do the same for Celebrity sailings while on RCI, but you have to use the OBC on the future sailing in that particular case.

A quick scan seems to show a gap between Nov 27 and Dec 14.

Hey Everyone, I was curious if anyone was staying in Broward or Palm Beach (Ft Lauderdale, West Palm, etc) the night before the February group cruise. I will be as I live here (unless someone has a room at the Fontainebleau they'd like to offer us). BH

:huh: How...but it...I mean every school, theater and... I, I don't even know you.

I was on indy over Thanksgiving and had a great time. You can read my live blog at the below link. Major take-aways: -service was stellar accross the board -the staff at the Champagne bar is top notch, as are their drinks -our mattress may have been the hardest I've slept on. You may want to ask for a topper. -for us (vegetarian, and kind of a pain), Windjammer was lackluster for lunch and breakfast (same as on Freedom), but was a great experience during dinner -Grease is currently playing on Indy, and while everyone has seen Grease, it was certainly enjoyable. -we didn't catch the ice show on Indy but did on Freedom and enjoyed it -you can't reserve entertainment options ahead of time except for Oasis class ships http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/independence-of-the-seas-live-blog

With regard to how this affect drink packages, I noticed that on Allure in February, some drinks, such as margaritas @ Sabor, were priced at $13, but the drink packaged, at the time, advertised as covering drinks only up to $12, were covered (I noticed this early on with Jerel, actually). I suspect they'd be doing something similar, or as mentioned, there'd have been outrage we'd have heard about by now.

So long as your carrier provides WiFi calling features and your phone supports this, you should be able to text using Voom. Most things will work fine, it's really only streaming video that is a problem - and even then it depends on the ship and a bit of luck.

Hi Gingy5, Navigator isn't known for having the fastest Voom, but I can't speak to whether or not facetime would work. If you purchase Voom, you won't be needing cellular data (and in fact, you'll want to disable roaming or turn on airplane mode to avoid a giant bill). Matt and I have some good info on what you'll need to know at the below link. Give that a read and then let me know if you have any questions. Hopefully someone can chime in and let us know if they had success with Facetime on Navi. http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/27/how-stay-touch-someone-your-royal-caribbean-cruise

Fathom can't survive b/c it is expensive to operate a line with one ship, especially when it can only hit a profitable route every other week. They created fathom to make the Cuba travl possible, and in the next few months we'll likely see more long-term permits issued by Cuba to US cruise lines - CCL seems confident in that. I guess my point is, if you look at Fathom under traditional optics, you can call it a failure, but it succeeded in being the first, getting the buzz going, and breaking the proverbial seal on Cuba sailings. Much learned from them as well - for other CCL brands and the industry as a whole.

Generally events are not scheduled ahead of time. You can look at past cruise compasses for similar sailings and that will give you a good idea of what to expect. Also know that on RCCL I've seen LGBT events both listed in the Cruise Compass but additional events have been listed on the board by guest services, which is hand-written. My guess is that at the first meet up people tend to agree on the subsequent events and then update the board at guest services. http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

Not a total ban. Casinos (maybe even depending on the ship).

Ready, Matt? Smoking policy changes.

If cost doesn't matter, unless there is a cab sitting there, I'd say Uber. I've never been a fan of our taxis in South Florida. Not only overpriced, but not as available as you'd expect. Even in the suburbs in Dade/Broward/Palm Beach you can now get Uber or Lyft (check both!) within 5 mins, often much more quickly than that.

I use a few staples and they've seemed mightly secure - not sure I could rip them off accidentally. I used to use clear packing tape as well, but stopped. I suppose if something hooks them juuuust right...

I think the size/scale of dining rooms is the reason for this. On smaller vessels (both on lines upmarket and on ships years ago in the premium and contemporary space) we've seen and interacted with the maître d' many times. In fact, I have pics of the maître d' preapring table-side deserts for us (such as crêpe suzette), but for one person to have a high level of interaction with that many guests while managing an entire dining room serving thousands is surely challenging.

In my experience you'll find no lack of porters. Be sure to bring cash to tip the porter, a couple of dollars per bag, maybe more if they're cumbersome.

For peak times like this I'd consider a car service. It will cost a bit more, but you know the score. I noticed that at least around here (between Ft lauderdale and WPB) Lyft now let's you pre-schedule rides, though I'm not sure how far out. Perhaps that's something you could try.

Uber and Lyft are both prominent and quite reasonable (compared to cabs) in South Florida. I'd consider going that route, as depending on where you head, parking on South Florida can be a bit of a pain. If your hotel charges you for parking then it's a slam dunk in my opinion. On the flip side, renting cars in Florida is very inexpensive - I often rent cars for the weekend (long drives) and I live here, but for $30-40 I can put the wear and tear on someone else's vehicle. The downside to this compared to Uber though (beyond parking and such) is that you end up losing time on vacation to pick up and drop off a car.

How long ago did you contact them? Once or twice I thought they ignored me but instead took almost 2 weeks to reply.

I've not seen this, and I wouldn't count on it, but I have learned this year that many things in RCL restaurants are discretionary - so ask, offer up a deal, because you just don't know if you don't ask.

I can tell you on Allure the margaritas were included with the drink package - no problem at all. On Freedom they initially said they weren't. When we protested (with the assistance of our fearless leader, Annette (it's good to not only have a good travel agent, but to travel with her) they were then covered. It seemed odd as the wording for beverage packages is quite clear, covering drinks up to $12 (or $13 as we saw on the past on some ships), but in the end all was well.