bsbrady

Luggage Valet is a great service

I always try and book my next cruise while onboard. Good deals, low deposits, OBC's . Seems to work well

On this topic, does anyone know if I can look up what entertainment will be on my cruise. Like who the comedian will be, headliner show, etc

So I will be on the Allure in Jan. Wondering where I will be able to smoke a cigar onboard? I agree with you WAAAYTOOO. Cigars go perfectly with an Adult beverage, so pushing cigar smokers to some random corner of the pool deck not near a bar is a loss of revenue. Cigar smokers tend to drink more expensive drinks, Single Malts, congacs , not to mention buying a cigar onboard. I loved the Connoisseur club on the Voyager and half the people there weren't even smoking. Just a different atmosphere.

I dont remember all of the, I do remember Abe because he was so good and he was everywhere. He also had a daily show on tv where he read the comment cards, pretty funny

I think he meant that he won $1100 throughout the 7 day cruise. You only have to pay the tax if you hit a so called jackpot of $1200 or more.

I won $600 on my last Anthem cruise. I dont think the odds are much different then land casinos

All the discounts are on full price. I have received a few more coupons via email since booking. I did call the CR desk and the told me that the price I paid for my cruise was very good. If I wanted the $400 discount I would have to re-book at the prevailing rate, which was over $1000 more. So it didnt pay. I guess I got a really good deal. I booked onboard via Next Cruise

I also received a certificate from the Allure and was not able to apply it to my existing booking.

Jamie's is not what I would call traditional red sauce Italian, but they do make good lasagna. But I like Jamie's better.

On our Anthem cruise we had the 5 night and ate at Jamie's twice.

We had Abe on the Anthem in March, Best CD we have ever had, hands down!! I wasn't surprised they gave the Harmony to him.

June seems a little far out. I usually book around the same time final payment is due or later. You can change your cruise or cancel before your final payment, but if you book a non-refundable fare, you dont get anything back. There are many websites and experts that tell you exactly when to buy. Like someone mentioned 58 days is a sweet spot, 21 days is as well.

If someone is on the fence a good strategy is to dont buy the package and see how much you drink on Day 1 & 2. If you see you might benefit from the package you can buy it for the remainder of the voyage. One of my factors is, I will drink at least 5 bottles of water per day. So it makes the package a great deal

Actually when I checked in online O was asked what time I will arrive. On the Anthem I said Noon and that was my checkin time. Check in has gotten much easier and quicker. We even uploaded photos to the website and those were used as the photo that pops up when you get on and off the ship. Now that might only be on Quantum Class and Harmony, not sure

I always get to the port early and often have to wait to board. Also, if you have any carry on bags, your room will not be ready until 1pm. On our Anthem out room was not ready til 2pm and had to lug around my carry on bag for hours. On our next cruise I think Im going to get to the port for 1pm. Get on board and go right to my cabin and drop off what I dont need. Anyone get to the ship later? Experience?

It seems that the newer ships and ships recently have gone into dry dock are the ones people are complaining about. Looks like when RC is swapping out the mattresses the new ones are very hard

I was chatting with a buddy of mine, who cruises often and here is how he justifies it to his wife: Sea Day: Maybe you have a bloody Mary or Mimosa with breakfast Then you spend most of the day by the pool. You will almost certainly have a few pina colada's, miami vice or some other frozen concoction. Now you go back and get ready for dinner, so you go have a martini or other pre-dinner cocktail. Then with dinner maybe a glass or two of wine After Dinner you get to the theater to see the show and you grab a drink at the bar in the theater. So 7 or 8 drinks on a sea day does not really seem so far fetched. Obviously not everyone drinks this much, but at average $10-$11 per drink, that package can save you money.

I was just able to get the drink package for 25% off, total of $355.18, comes to $50 per day with the gratuities. I see they are pretty much offering the 20% all the time. So if the price per drink is $11 then 4+ drinks per day it pays. And that also includes bottled waters, fresh juice, premium coffee and tea as well as unlimited soda. If RC finds that the beer and wine package will make them money they will bring it back. This change is relatively new. Its the second time its changed in a year.

That is BS. We were on the Anthem in its inaugural year and the beds were like sleeping on plywood. Sounds like to me that RCL went really cheap with whoever they selected as a mattress provider. We are going to be on the Allure in January, I see you mention that the Allure had a comfy mattress?

My Inlaws did a world cruise on the QM2. Its not the same food. The food changed depending on where they were. Asian food in China, Italian food in Italy, African food in Africa, etc. They spent 144 nights on the ship and loved it. I hope I could do a trip like that one day.

They sell cigars in the store that carries liquor. I have seen cuban's before. You might be better off looking for a place on one of the islands. Better selections and pricing.

Martini Mixology sounds like fun.

Like everyone said once onbaord its pretty easy. On the Anthem we had the dining package and I went to Chops the first day and they were able to make several reservations for me, even in the other restaurants. It was very easy using the Royal IQ app. I hope they roll this out fleet wide.

You can also give RCL the $300 when you get onboard and have them apply it to your onboard account, that will act as a kind of credit. You can also make payments throughout the cruise if you do not want one big bill at the end.