Jack805

I'm not sure about the specific itinerary with two embarkation ports, but I've found that the Royal app can be a bit buggy sometimes and actually had to sign out and sign back into the app to fully view my new reservation. It seems like some stuff gets cached there and only resolves with a sign out/in (and in rare instances a deletion and reinstall too).

I did my first sailing solo a few weeks ago and had a great time, so much so I booked another solo cruise in a couple months - but a longer one. I'm not much of an extrovert myself (kind of want to change that for the right circumstances) but can see myself opening up and enjoying meeting new people so much more on a cruise than anywhere else since even on a big ship it's still small enough to see the same people all the time, and I know I start opening up when I'm around the same people more often. All of my servers were awesome as well and super attentive for being solo. Might have to give this a try in the MDR, especially since I opted for a traditional seating time instead of My Time for the next sailing. Haven't made any seating requests though, I'm leaving it up to chance (or the maitre d') to decide if I'm enjoying my meals solo or meeting new people, but knowing there's delicious food I'm going to be happy with the meals either way I think! You can definitely dine alone; I did each time last time for both MDR and specialty. It felt like I got a lot of attention but can't tell if that was just the fact of being on a cruise (where they are more attentive anyway) or extra since I was solo, but I had some great conversations with my servers during the dining experiences.

My room got upgraded the week before my last sailing, SetSail Pass updated with new room number but luggage tags did not. Ended up calling RC and they escalated a request to the documentation team and got the updated eDoc/luggage tags the next morning via email (and online were updated as well).

I was looking for my actual card to photograph and upload before my sailing last month, but right as I found it to upload in the app I found that section of the check-in went away. With all the recent changes about required vaccinations, testing, etc. the proof of vaccination as part of check-in went away - but not all of the messaging (email, push, etc.) has been updated to remove the "upload your proof of vaccination" wordings yet. They ask about vaccination as a series of yes/no questions for the health screening, and in the terminal I was asked about my status (I brought my card along but when I went to present my card they said they didn't need to see it) so they're just taking your word.

I booked the cheapest interior "guarantee" on my 3-night last month because it was the right price for a getaway, even going solo with single supplement. The Royal Up email will show the different categories with the minimum bid. I got a successful bid, and from that have a couple observations I can share with someone who hasn't done the Royal Up bid before. First, the bid shown is per person (so if traveling solo it will be double that shown as a minimum) which was obvious. I had assumed though that the bid was also per night - which it was not. I didn't notice that the wording said per person for the sailing. Had I known it was for the whole sailing I might have included a couple more higher category rooms as part of my bids. Second, since they use unfilled rooms to fill the successful bids there might be a reason why that room was unbooked. I was successful in getting a Promenade View interior as my upgrade, but learned the room was probably not booked because it was directly over the guitar player at the bar below. I'm up later anyway since I work a later shift so being able to hear what was being played didn't keep me up, but I could see someone who has an opposite sleep schedule not being as happy about the added sound in the cabin. All in all, I'll probably bid again if the prices look good enough to me - though probably closer to the minimum because I'm already booking in a cabin I am willing to stay in for the price, and any upgrade would be a bonus to me.

The OBC rules (like the rules for all RC redemptions I noticed) are less than clear for the terms. It seems like their attempt to be succinct only muddies the reading by those redeeming the reward (not much better on the various other ones besides RC rewards either). I think (judging solely from my limited experience so far) that the redemption has to take place through Casino Royale no matter what the reward is. If it's a full cruise booking reward (or the percentage off) it needs to be completely booked through the Casino (and then likely can be transferred to a preferred TA from previous comments). But for an add on like the OBC (and maybe the Free Play) if there's a booking that meets the criteria the Casino will apply the add-on to the booking. Like @Kurtp13 I cannot see why someone would pick the Free Play over the OBC, but I suppose some do for their own reasons which is why it's offered. I could see if it was the only available when others like OBC sold out, but definitely seemed to be the opposite right now. Maybe those who would choose the Free Play are focused just on the casino where I look at the OBC as an option to add something during the cruise I might not want to pay for directly myself but would "splurge" with an OBC option.

Thankful to have found this forum last night! I selected the $100 OBC for my cruise in November last night, then forwarded the email to Club Royale and just got an email from them that it's been applied to my account. Booked my sailing through a TA, but Club Royale applied it without issue. Was told I can request a new booking invoice from my TA to see the credit applied, but it's showing right in my Cruise Planner so I know it's in there. I've had a MyVegas acount for a while now (maybe close to 10 years) that I opened to get rewards for Vegas - but never found better deals to use there than I got through MGM rewards for barely playing in the casino during any Vegas trips. But being able to use MyVegas rewards with RC changes the game for me. Easily got some extra trip spending money for very little effort.