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DunkelBierJay

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Everything posted by DunkelBierJay

  1. The Royal App will show what restaurants are open on embarkation day. You can also check out a cruise compass here, https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass First thoughts are Jamie's Italian and Park Cafe.
  2. I checked out the location and think it's a great spot close but not too close to the forward elevators and a deck up from Central Park...I think the location is great for interior rooms...the question is whether or not you want to be close to each other, so it's a matter of preference. I wouldn't sweat it too much myself.
  3. The bottom line on booking a cruise is to use a travel agent as mentioned in the previous replies. They could get the answer and results the call center may not be able to. Here's a thought...if you booked less than 60 days ago (your other thread was on May 5, so you may be in luck), you should be able to transfer your sailing to a travel agent. The one that sponsors this blog is fantastic and may be able to help you. You may need to pay a higher deposit, but in your case, it may be worth it if sailing on Allure is what you definitely want to do. I would also seriously consider changing to the refundable fare if it is still available (you may have to to get back on Allure). I have worked with Brock at MEI for almost two years, and he has pulled a couple miracles for me. If you are past the 60 day window, you will have to keep your booking the way it is. In that case, I would ask for the situation to be escalated to a supervisor or manager and see what happens.
  4. Speaking from my experience which may differ from others (I have to put in that disclaimer)...when I have booked my adult daughter on a cruise into a separate room, I don't recall any mailers at all, actually. There are places to specify how you get communication throughout the process, and I remember email and text as options. I don't remember the mail. As far as myself, I don't get any marketing or informational materials from Royal in the mail myself. It has all been on the website, email and I remember one text update when there was a terminal change. While I think you're ok to enter her address...to be safe and to preserve any surprises you may want to spring on her, I would simply give your address as hers and make sure you enter her name as it appears on her passport...that may be the most difficult part.
  5. I stayed in one on Navigator about a year ago, and it was fine. The only note about it was that it was above Cafe Promenade, and you could hear the door to the back of the house below us opening and closing a lot. If you are on Deck 7 or above, it won't be an issue regardless of where you are along the Royal Promenade.
  6. On a ship with outdoor aft seating with a beverage watching the wake.
  7. So, I am treating it like a game now. I go back in everyday to find that the waivers I signed the day before have been invalidated. I wonder how many times I have to do it before it takes. O, maybe I just leave it alone.
  8. Allure was scheduled to dock at Roatan for the first time this season today. It appears that it was successful according to SeaScanner...yay
  9. My default on past cruises has been to go to the Windjammer and find honey stung chicken. Now that I finally have that off my bucket list, I am hitting Giovanni's on Allure to use my CP Balcony lunch perk away from the throng of people in the Windjammer and Park Cafe (Kummelwicks will be there later when I want them -- hopefully for an early evening snack to hold me over till my 9 PM Izumi Hibachi reservation on embarkation day!)
  10. On previous cruises, pre-signing waivers has never worked for me. Inevitably, I get to the rock wall or whatever I want to do, and I have to go through it again on board. For my upcoming sailing, I have found that the two previous times I signed for myself and my son, they showed as "invalidated." So, I did it....again...I have no expectation that this will transfer to my account while on board, and won't be surprised if I have to do it again. The only slightly annoying thing (and this may show up in my final survey after the cruise if my waivers are invalidated again) is that I will have to show up with my son to sign waivers for him on board, meaning he will have to find me and interrupt me from my slumber on a lounge in the Solarium so that he can do the Flow Rider... Poll Question: Has anyone ever had success pre-signing waivers online? PS: This is not to mention the issues with logging into the On-Line check-in feature at the website the last 24 hours. The workaround is to click on "Already Booked" at the home page and enter cruise details and reservation ID. If I wasn't obsessive/compulsive, I wouldn't have that info at my disposal.
  11. It was buggy all day yesgterday. I got around it by clicking "Already Booked" at the home page. The drawback is having to enter cruise details.
  12. I love seeing Royal Caribbean ships doing things like this...sorry for the image quality...basically, Navigator provided diesel to this sail boat in the open ocean when their rudder broke and weren't able to navigate by sail, but could using their motor. The problem was they were over 1000 nautical miles from shore.
  13. If you take your deck and cabin number and look at a deck plan, you can see exactly where you are... Here is a link to Harmony's deck plans... https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/harmony-of-the-seas/deck-plans/1819/03 That being said, Harmony is monstrous, and while you might feel motion, you will feel less than any other ship at sea except a Swath hull design ship. If you are nervous...you can do a sea band, bonine, or get a patch prescription from your doctor. Other measures are...stay hydrated, eat a green apple and suck on a ginger candy. You will be fine on board Harmony. Compared to the Carnival ship you sailed on before, your jaw will drop when you see her.
  14. I would say that as soon as you see Izumi Hibachi in the CP, book it. I saw it in the CP about four months ago for a June sailing on Allure, and waited. The only remaining time was 9pm on embarkation day when I went to book it a month later. I will try to get it moved to a different time while on board, but I was surprised by that. You really have to be on your toes.
  15. I lean toward the medium to smaller ships myself, but understand the economics don't work out for new builds when retrofitting an existing ship seems so much more economical when almost every sailing is virtually sold out, and when the huge ships are selling out as well. I think the market has to change pretty substantially for us to see mid-size ships being built for RC any time soon. They are squeezing their ROI out of Majesty and Empress,, so I think the same will hold true for Vision, Radiance and Voyager Class ships when they get to the same age.
  16. I have been on her sister ship, Navigator, and will say that for me, this class of ship is the sweet spot. The refurb will take her to the next level. You can't go wrong on Mariner. RCCL is a great mass market cruise line, and I have no desire right now to try any other company.
  17. There is a nice hotel contained within the airport at Orlando...it is a Hyatt Regency, so if you want to check in a few minutes after getting your bags, you can't beat that. If you don't mind driving 45 minutes east from Orlando, I have stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott which is close enough to see the ships docked, and it was fine. There are lots of hotels there to choose from and there are two car rental companies within a couple miles of the port that can shuttle you to the cruise terminal. If it were me...after a long flight from the UK arriving in a new country at 9 pm when your body clock is at 2 or 3 am, I wouldn't do it unless I was familiar with driving in the US. There's no way I would do it going into the UK that way. I would do it with some rest in the daylight though since it is almost all motorway. Nassau is a mixed bag...if you want a cheap beach experience, there is Junkanoo Beach which is very close to the port...a 10 minute walk. If you want something a little nicer, there is the British Colonial Hilton, also a 10 minute walk from the ship with food credit, and bookable on resortforaday.com. You can go to Atlantis which is expensive, or take a taxi or bus to Baha Mar Resort which I have heard is good. You could also walk to the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle to see some sights, or book a tour (I booked a tour and would not do it again). Walking around Nassau is an ok experience. Coco Cay is great...just look through shore excursions on the cruise planner to see what might appeal to you. You could also lounge around on the beach and go to the floating bar. The food is included. I would definitely do the drink package on a three nighter, btw...just check the cruise planner for a sale. Enchantment was our first ship with Royal, and it was great! This ship has the best pool deck on the fleet as well as the best bar by a pool in the fleet. It's actually the biggest pool deck of any Royal ship because of the stretching they did to her a few years ago. You wouldn't go wrong in Nassau getting off to walk around a bit and then go back to the ship to be at the pool deck all day.
  18. Thanks...it was one of those if it was a snake it would have bit me things...as many times as I looked at the Dining link in the CP, I didn't see My Time Dining in the CP...my bad... i went ahead and booked times when we are not doing specialty dining...there was a huge gap between 5:30 and 8:15 seating times...I guess those times were taken...and the comments about having to book each night one at a time are still true. I wish there was an option to book them all at once with a view of My Calendar.
  19. Have you ever Pre-reserved your MTD in advance on the CP? Also, how far in advance is the CP open for this. We’ve only used Traditional in the past.
  20. I found value with this card on Empress. I did not find value with it on Brilliance. Those are the two ships I used it on. Empress -- has an AMAZING coffee bar -- just awesome -- features all the regular drinks plus a great set of Cuban selections Brilliance -- Cafe Latitudes was just ok, and they really enforced the one punch per shot rule. Not the best value in my view. Upcoming sailing on Allure -- I am not going to bother...Royal's complimentary regular drip coffee is really good, and if you mix in the free soft serve ice cream from the Windjammer or the pool deck, you have a better drink in my opinion at no charge (I have done that on other ships)
  21. Yes, they’re expanding in the US quite rapidly. They are in a lot of major locations and in several across Florida. I enjoyed using their app so far. Apparently, all you need for check-in is your phone, and it unlocks your car, and you’re good to go. I have a Mercedes CLA reserved for about $78/day. If I live blog, I’m sure I’ll write about the experience with this company.
  22. I am testing out Sixt which is off sight at FLL -- I have seen mixed reviews about them, but I want to decide for myself -- they don't have a shuttle to the port from the info I gathered so far, so the Lyft pickup would be easier than FLL (in my experience, it has been a pain). Otherwise, I usually use Hertz.
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