Doug_Texas

I have never booked MSC, but I did book Princess' Royal Princess with beverage package & WiFi for the same price as Harmony OTS without beverage package or WiFi. I understand Harmony is newer and bigger. Also booked 14 night Celebrity transatlantic with “All Included” on Ascent for same price as Royal transatlantic cruise without beverage or WiFi. I used to always book Royal but now am trying some other things. I'll continue to book Royal being D+ but not at any cost.

The blog posted an article in 12/6/24 that said, "Moving forward, passengers shouldn't be surprised if their travel router is confiscated during embarkation, as the cruise line updated its prohibited items list. In addition to items like drugs, guns, and knives, "satellite dishes, routers, and other networking equipment" are now included under the "cybersecurity and deliberate electronic crime" category." Other discussion has suggested a passengers' paid internet package can be cancelled without refund as well. I don’t judge decisions others make but clearly passengers trying to defeat the per device pricing is being addressed by Royal with the “deliberate electronic crime” statement. I don’t doubt people with continue to get away with it but proceed while understanding the risk.

Booked 14 night transatlantic Oct. 2026 on Ascent from Rome to Fort Lauderdale. Super excited!

We are on T-Mobile so have data and text for free whenever we are in a port anywhere in the world so we only manage the D+ benefits on days at sea. It is a 24 hour deal so we manage what time of day we start a free day so coverage is maximized. You can pick the 2 days separately with whatever start time you desire. You get the full speed internet now, they used to give you the low speed “surf” internet. We alway decided how to share the 4 free days as a couple with no trouble until Icon. Normally you can be logged in to your normal app account and still purchase the free day from your spouse or companion's personal information for your use. Icon wouldn’t let us do that. The free 2 days on Icon were locked to our app credentials. I didn’t want to log in as my spouse on Icon because we message each other from the RCCL app. Work around would be to log in as my spouse on my iPad. We have never had to spend a penny on WiFi.

We stay at the Breakwater Hotel in South Beach at 940 Ocean Drive. That location has the dinner and show “Havana 1957” if you are a fan of Cuban culture and music. We were there last January and are going back in a couple of months. You can also let the kids play in the sand as Ocean Drive is right on the beach.

Agree, Jenn is fantastic. I just worry about her workload. It already seems like she works 7x24.

You accurately quoted policy which would include the Swiss Army device: "Sharp Objects, including all knives and scissors. (Note: Personal grooming items such as safety razors are allowed. Scissors with blade length less than 4 inches are allowed.)" I always take a Leatherman with knife, scissors, pliers, etc. on the tool which has not been a search & seizure issue but obviously prohibited. After all, you need a device to cut off the balcony lounger zip ties.

I think (as shown) free is good for ages 0-5. Sounds like wait staff are letting it slide with the adult menu in a specialty.

Doesn’t seem to have any markings that would prevent unused “punches” to be used on a different cruise since it’s reported they only sell these at end of cruises. Wonder if anyone has tried that.

Where do you find the signs?

Years ago I did wear a tux and we got our family pictures. Then I stopped and started wearing a suit - I still do for family pictures. Over time people dressing nice for dinner has ended. I see the same shorts and flip flops at the MDR and specialty dining as I also see at church on Sunday. Society has just changed. Sleeveless T-shirts, shorts and flip flops are welcome anywhere on the ship. Just got off Harmony and both Jamie’s and Sabor sported WJ dressed customers. RCL isn’t going to enforce anything like dress standards, age limits in Solarium, or curfews - they will only enforce safety related behaviors. Royal and Carnival are mass market cruise lines. It’s a floating amusement park - adjust your expectations. Dress is the same super casual all over the ship and we should accept the market Royal caters to or pick a different cruise line. The D+ perks keep me coming back but I know WJ attire is what I’ll see everywhere. I think it would help with the customer dissatisfaction if Royal would just quit saying anything about passenger attire.

Gift card?

No, carry on only

You can do that - officially there should be a corkage charge but that is rarely enforced. We just take wine glasses with a jumbo pour from the cabin.

Just got off Harmony yesterday - we only were told twice they needed to open beers. The rest of the cruise they gave us unopened bottles and cans, mostly without even asking. Embarkation day was the only day it was an issue. Of course we aren’t people with drinks package where beverage sharing might be part of the issue.

We just got a notice that our sailing tomorrow (12/15) from Galveston on Harmony is delayed until after 11PM. Parking lots closed until 8PM. There was a medical emergency passenger disembark that caused the significant delay. I always feel so sorry for the passenger that experiences this. But by the grace of God go I.

You are 100% correct. CashStar IT didn’t comply with Royal’s offer limitations. If I had been Royal I would have shut it down as well. I never saw a gift card denomination over $2,000 and the promo link was supposed to be single use. I’m sure CashStar never had to deal with these parameters and volumes. If I were Royal I’d never trust CashStar to manage a promotion like this again. They failed on many levels.

Sadly they are targeting December so my sailing in November is too early! Nice to see the “all inclusive” dynamic without needing the drinks package.

It’s valid on Celebrity

Just use the URL from the OP @nate91 - assuming you are Diamond or better. https://royalcaribbean.cashstar.com/store/recipient?locale=en-us&promoCode=CASGIFTS24&ecid=em_13052634&rid=944525057&rcid=107916754&empc=LOYALTY_EXCLUSIVE&emsc=CS_US&empf=&emct=DIAMOND&lnkid=HERO_IMG&ect=TAC&ecv=CS

I bought $4,000 for $3,200 - considering more!

The Q&A on the web site says just call your TA with the gift card info and they can apply the payment.

Wowza, thanks! There is even place where paying remaining balance has a “Gift Card” option I’ve never noticed.

This will have no effect on Galveston except the small hit on the cruise fare. As @DoomSlayer pointed out, Bahamas went from $1 to $14 in 2024 in much the same way and we just sucked it up - Paradise Beach Club plans continue. For Galveston port alternatives are limited - Falmouth is a terrible destination and Grand Cayman doesn’t want the tourism. Belize could be developed but all of these alternatives would mean increased fuel which would be passed along to passengers too. Cozumel has great low cost all-inclusive shore destinations and cheap taxis. Costa Maya will have PDM. Galveston unaffected, itineraries unaffected, “thank you sir, may I have another."

Totally agree. The effect of “Total Quality Management” in our lives is we can’t make a purchase at Home Depot or go to a restaurant without writing a review. RCL and car dealerships are the worst in circumventing the improvement intent of reviews by begging for a rating detached from performance. I NEVER withhold gratuities as that is really part of the cruise fare and I always lean towards generosity in my reviews but if something needs improvement I politely point it out on the survey.