Dr. Facilier

5 hours ago, Blulady said:

I'm sitting here at my desk working away when all of a sudden a push notification comes in to my phone.  I check it and it is from my RC app.  I figure it is just going to tell me to hurry up and buy something because the "sale" is ending soon.  Nope!  It was a notification telling me that I only have 30 minutes left to complete my muster drill - my next cruise is in 240 days and I feel crushed lol.  I want to go do the muster drill instead of working   

Same. Same.

This has been such a great source for info.  It's not knowing that is the toughest. We booked through Costco so have to wait until we get on board to take advantage of some of the perks  - one is a specialty restaurant meal.  We want to go to Wonderland - more for the experience than the food itself - should I expect it will have openings when I get on board?  Also - will it be clear in the app when I can start making reservations for various events and shows before cruising?

Thanks again!

4 hours ago, Midwest Cruiser said:

@Dr. Facilier I will ask what are you mainly looking for that you are confused on or need clarification about. @Matt has a great posted video but that may not answer what you are specify look for. I'm all ears.

Thanks!  The real issue is that I can find my way through a Disney ship with my eyes closed and the Royal ship seems so much bigger and there are so many more "pay for" items  = I keep having these visions that I'm going to end up with a huge bill because I didn't know something was an extra cost.  I know there is a learning curve for each new line and we plan to spend most of this cruise exploring.  I'm really appreciating all the advice!

4 hours ago, Neesa said:

DCL to Royal convert here... 10+ DCL and I was done, I tried Royal and have not looked back. Royal product & value for money excels in my humble opinion. The crew are the stars, they really want you to have a great sailing. They seem to be more invested then the Mouse Crew at all levels. Along with the above suggestions I would suggest purchasing before the sailing the combination internet and refreshment package, this way waters/soda's/mocktails are covered similar to the mouse. The internet is a plus here, but you don't have to purchase it. Then if we wanted adult beverage we just paid a la carte, we aren't big in that area. Cruise Planner is your friend, watch for the sales they allow price adjustments. They do provide some things lemonade, ice tea, ships water, coffee & some other flavor waters if you don't wish the soda's etc. 

Please bring toiletries, here you will miss DCL. The combination shampoo, conditioner/body wash....no! For the experience & value I believe it will give you pause to return to the rodent, lol! Enjoy, and welcome to the Royal family

This is fantastic advice -platinum to platinum.

21 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I see you have people who linked answers for you.
So I'll share some thoughts on Anthem

Go to Cafe Two70 for the kummelweck roast beef sandwhich-free dining.  They also have a salad bar. soup and other small sandwhiches and salads there and if you want something salty they typically have bags of chips, BUT you have to know to ask for them, they are not displayed. In addition they have cookies and some pastry/cake desserts.

The lunches at Chops or Jamies are great, half the price of the dinners. You can typically find sales in the cruise planner. which is cheaper than buying onboard.

You can buy a coffee card in the cruise planner, if you like speciatly coffee.  It works out to 1/2 the price of buying the coffees without the card.  You must remember to go to the coffee shop and ask for it.

Northstar is free on port days.  Ask Guest services when the sign up opens.  On one of my sailings it was 8 am on the port day, on another sailing it was at 8pm the night before the port day.  I do belive there is free iFly, same thing..you can ask at Guest Services in regards to that too.

If you do not like the app you can ask your stateroom attendant for the paper copy of the Cruise Compass.  I feel it has more info than the app and is easier to see things.  They do have a QR code you can scan to get the Cruise Compass on your phone, I still prefer the paper.

Enjoy the ship.  It is beautiful.

 

 

Thanks!

We've got a balcony stateroom  - which is more than we usually get on  DCL - the price was unbeatable!

Hi everyone -

I've been reading the pages for a couple months and am still feeling confused.  Background: I've sailed 13 times on Disney and know the ropes (and ships) there pretty well.  I'm finding myself confused about what's included and not included with the basic voyage fare.  We will be sailing on the Anthem in April. Is there some handy chart someone has created with what is included and what is extra? I would totally appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction.

Thanks so much!

23 hours ago, FSUFAN said:

I have booked 2 upcoming trips thru Costco Travel. One with RCL and the other with HAL.  The RCL trip only came with Costco Shop card (but it was $340).  The HAL trip, I got "The best deal ever" promotion plus the Costco Shop card ($310). The Best deal ever promo has/had pre-paid gratuities, deluxe drinks package, one night specialty restaurant, $100 OBC, $100 excursion credit and deluxe Wifi for two.

Was that for RC with Costco?  Can you share the details?

On 5/10/2022 at 2:27 PM, ChanaC said:

We purchased a cruise package through Costco, which includes a spa treatment. On the fine print, it states: "One Spa experience for guests 1 and 2, per stateroom. Choose from 3 rejuvenating experiences to enjoy: La Therapie hydrolift facial, Swedish massage or reflexology including massage. Please see Spa Manager once you board to make your appointment. Spa experience only available on port days."

We're sailing on Quantum in a few weeks and plan to go right to the spa when we board to book the treatment, especially because we are limited with the times. I'm also looking on the Royal Caribbean website to get more info about the treatments and am having trouble finding anything about some of them. They definitely list and offer the Swedish massage. However, I don't see anything about reflexology massages (which I think would be a foot massage), and while there are facials I don't see anything specifically called the "La Therapie hydrolift." From searching on Google it seems like La Therapie is just the name of a moisturizer/lotion/cream that I suppose would be used for the facial. 

Has anyone else booked with Costco and can share what they ended up getting? Or are there any Royal spa experts out there who might know what all of this means? Also, does anyone know if you can potentially use the package while at sea during a port day? One one port day we leave at 5:00pm, and on another we don't get into the port until 4:00pm, so I'm wondering if the ship has to physically be in port or if any time on a port day counts.

Did you also get a meal at a specialty restaurant from Costco?  Were you able to book it through the app or did you have to wait to get onboard?  Thanks!

On 10/18/2022 at 4:13 PM, IzzyB said:

For me I am getting a large Gift Card, I get % back for having the higher costco membership, and I get a % back on my CC that is thru Costco.  I think I determined it was over $1000 I was saving booking thru Costco.  So while the cruise itself was the same price with just a little onboard credit, the GC and cash back was too good to pass up.  We are booking two cabins so RoyalUp was never something we could do anyways since we wouldn't guaranteed to be near each other if we did RoyalUp.  So the one negatives to Costco didn't matter to us.

We have just booked our first RC with Costco (all of our other cruises have been DCL, so we are feeling like fish out of water) - wondering if you know if we can book specialty restaurants ahead of time if they came as a perk of our Costco booking?  If not - do we have to wait until we get onboard?  Thanks so much!