tonyfsu21

We have always found $700-1000 for a 7 night to be fair.

Yes to double points on top of the suite double points. 
 
As far as tipping goes, totally at your discretion. The floating rule of thumb/consensus is generally $100pp for the cruise and it can go up from there depending on level of service. 

Excellent information. Thank you! 

Nope, you still are subject to the check-in time that you get when you check-in through the app or online.  However in the Concierge/Genie emails they are saying that Suites and Pinnacles have a 1-hour before and after their check-in time window to arrive.  

The mask mandate really makes cruising more of a hassle but the pros outweigh the cons. IMHO this will never go away and as much as I want to tape the mouth shut of the next person that says “the new norm” it’s seems to be a true statement. Thankfully we live in Florida….. and yeah. 

The mask mandate really makes cruising more of a hassle but the pros outweigh the cons. IMHO this will never go away and as much as I want to tape the mouth shut of the next person that says “the new norm” it’s seems to be a true statement. Thankfully we live in Florida….. and yeah. 

The mask mandate really makes cruising more of a hassle but the pros outweigh the cons. IMHO this will never go away and as much as I want to tape the mouth shut of the next person that says “the new norm” it’s seems to be a true statement. Thankfully we live in Florida….. and yeah. 

I have won Royal Up just about every time I’ve bid and it’s been roughly 3-4 days prior to sailing that my credit card is charged for the win. 

Makes zero sense. The pool area is totally fine to take your mask off and not social distance get the AT is off limits? You have to wonder who is the final person that puts that pen to paper and signs off on this? Did they even read it??? What an absolute mess. 

So the vaccinated need to pass through the unvaccinated pool area to get to the lime & coconut or the ice cream machine? This is madness. 

What am I missing here? Masks are already required indoors on RC. You can only take them off while dining, outdoors on in your stateroom. 

You should certainly wait this out. I’ve seen the rules change 10 times in the past few months. There has to be some way around this issue. 

Well, I can't say that I don't understand.  I have been there myself.  Sit back and give it some time.  If you still feel the same way (and I would not blame you !  Nobody likes being censored) then continue with your withdrawal.  This is the way I look at it :  I am a more effective advocate for my position and beliefs when I keep up the fight than I am if I give up or give in.  My goal (and I'm sure yours, as well) is not to offend or incite, but to advocate.  I'm no help to anyone if I just give up or let bullies run me off. I'm also just playing into their hands if I let them bait me into a pointless battle of words.  Nobody wins then.
This blog is about cruising, not about vaccinations or about whether COVID is real or a hoax.  There are plenty of other places to fight those battles. I am trying very hard to stick to the things that really matter here - primarily, trying to maximize the joys of cruising.  Truthfully, I'm not sure how much longer cruising is even going to survive.  I have my serious doubts...but I will try and help, not harm.

This is the first I’ve heard of this box. We get the tip envelopes in the room and put cash in them and then hand them directly to the recipient. I personally don’t think I would trust that anything put in this box actually makes it directly to the employee w/o being filtered through some kind of group collection system before being dispersed across an entire dept.

Yep, I remember the review box at guest services. Not familiar at all with a tip box though. 

Hurricane dorien in 2019 saw the Allure extend from a 7 night cruise to 11 nights.  During this time RCI cancelled our last port because it was the Bahamas (in the path of the Hurricane) and added 2 new ports (Honduras & Cozumel).  Most of the Americans onboard jumped ship at the 1st available opportunity whilst us brits lapped up the extra days inboard.  Everything was comped - the extra days, ports etc... whatever drinks/Internet/dining packages we had were just extended free of charge.
I would imagine if you needed laundry doing then you may just need to ask.
On Allure (as it hid behind Cuba waiting for the florida ports to re-open) they started to offer the remaining nights for the next cruise at ridiculously knocked down prices (royal suites for mere hundreds of dollars).
Oh, and we got 4 extra crown and anchor points without having to ask ... happened automatically.

This is the first I’ve heard of this box. We get the tip envelopes in the room and put cash in them and then hand them directly to the recipient. I personally don’t think I would trust that anything put in this box actually makes it directly to the employee w/o being filtered through some kind of group collection system before being dispersed across an entire dept.

This is the first I’ve heard of this box. We get the tip envelopes in the room and put cash in them and then hand them directly to the recipient. I personally don’t think I would trust that anything put in this box actually makes it directly to the employee w/o being filtered through some kind of group collection system before being dispersed across an entire dept.

Please let me know if your get 10 in the cabana because we have 10 and I was going to be forced into booking 2 during Thanksgiving cruise this year. 

Thanks for sharing the photos!

We got back from our weekend sailing on Freedom and it was quite the experience. We had great weather (it’s been raining like crazy in SoFL) at Coco Cay and Nassau. Being on the Freedom with only 1000 passengers is odd and I think we prefer the action of a packed ship but this was certainly interesting and had many positives. We opted for the Coco Beach Club and it was overall a good experience. The elevated dining experience had some nice choices like grilled Caribbean lobster which was prepared and presented very nicely. There was literally nobody at the beach club (see pics). My only complaint is that there’s not enough shade by the pool and it’s odd that upon arrival the host doesn’t bring over a bucket or pitcher of cold water to wherever you are seated. Minimal gripe but still it’s hot as h*ll (keep in mind I’m born and raised in SoFL and I still think it’s hot!). Onboard Freedom there was little to no action which is to be expected. It was nice to go to the suite lounge and have the entire place to yourself for a change. I know this type of reduced capacity cruising won’t last forever so we just rolled with it. IMHO my family and I felt very safe with young children in regards to RC’s COVID safety protocol. They did a great job and the ship and stateroom were extremely clean. The kids literally wanted to eat at Giovannis Kitchen every single night so we did (the pizza!) and it did not disappoint. We are looking forward to things hopefully getting back to normal and more cruises in our future!

We got back from our weekend sailing on Freedom and it was quite the experience. We had great weather (it’s been raining like crazy in SoFL) at Coco Cay and Nassau. Being on the Freedom with only 1000 passengers is odd and I think we prefer the action of a packed ship but this was certainly interesting and had many positives. We opted for the Coco Beach Club and it was overall a good experience. The elevated dining experience had some nice choices like grilled Caribbean lobster which was prepared and presented very nicely. There was literally nobody at the beach club (see pics). My only complaint is that there’s not enough shade by the pool and it’s odd that upon arrival the host doesn’t bring over a bucket or pitcher of cold water to wherever you are seated. Minimal gripe but still it’s hot as h*ll (keep in mind I’m born and raised in SoFL and I still think it’s hot!). Onboard Freedom there was little to no action which is to be expected. It was nice to go to the suite lounge and have the entire place to yourself for a change. I know this type of reduced capacity cruising won’t last forever so we just rolled with it. IMHO my family and I felt very safe with young children in regards to RC’s COVID safety protocol. They did a great job and the ship and stateroom were extremely clean. The kids literally wanted to eat at Giovannis Kitchen every single night so we did (the pizza!) and it did not disappoint. We are looking forward to things hopefully getting back to normal and more cruises in our future!

I have won Royal Up just about every time I’ve bid and it’s been roughly 3-4 days prior to sailing that my credit card is charged for the win. 

We got back from our weekend sailing on Freedom and it was quite the experience. We had great weather (it’s been raining like crazy in SoFL) at Coco Cay and Nassau. Being on the Freedom with only 1000 passengers is odd and I think we prefer the action of a packed ship but this was certainly interesting and had many positives. We opted for the Coco Beach Club and it was overall a good experience. The elevated dining experience had some nice choices like grilled Caribbean lobster which was prepared and presented very nicely. There was literally nobody at the beach club (see pics). My only complaint is that there’s not enough shade by the pool and it’s odd that upon arrival the host doesn’t bring over a bucket or pitcher of cold water to wherever you are seated. Minimal gripe but still it’s hot as h*ll (keep in mind I’m born and raised in SoFL and I still think it’s hot!). Onboard Freedom there was little to no action which is to be expected. It was nice to go to the suite lounge and have the entire place to yourself for a change. I know this type of reduced capacity cruising won’t last forever so we just rolled with it. IMHO my family and I felt very safe with young children in regards to RC’s COVID safety protocol. They did a great job and the ship and stateroom were extremely clean. The kids literally wanted to eat at Giovannis Kitchen every single night so we did (the pizza!) and it did not disappoint. We are looking forward to things hopefully getting back to normal and more cruises in our future!

I have won Royal Up just about every time I’ve bid and it’s been roughly 3-4 days prior to sailing that my credit card is charged for the win.