Randon1234

7 hours ago, Carlos A. said:

Maybe there aren't so many chair hogs on Freedom because its doing 3/4 nights cruises with only one sea day on the 4 nights and having port days almost every day.

You make a good point here. Is chair hogging an every day problem or just sea days? 

18 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I've been to 3 different Playmakers and none have had arcade games, just table games. Connect four on Nav and billiards and jenga in all the rest. They are free to play.

Follow up q, did the billiards table ever get crowded? What was the policy in regards to sharing the table? 

19 hours ago, Seafarer said:

I've seen or played these games at Playmakers for free: jumbo-sized Jenga & Connect Four, table shuffleboard and a pool table.

Jenga is annoying, because when the blocks tumble, it makes a hell of a noise. Sitting next to the pool table is also not recommended.

Pitchers of beer were still available on our last Symphony cruise in Feb. Ms. Seafarer and I split one as we watched Top Gun Maverick on the Aqua Theater screens one evening.

Thats a great movie to watch on the big screens! I bet that was an awesome experience

1 hour ago, RCVirgin22 said:

Maybe the chairs should come with timers, I mean it shouldn't take long to dip in the pool and come back, right? Or go get a drink/restroom break.  I don't advocate for "reserving" a chaise all day or while you go take a nap, eat lunch or whatever takes 2-6 hours time. But it would be a pain to have to change chairs every time you had to get up to use the facilities or get a drink. Since I have nothing to leave behind because I don't carry much beyond my MP3 player to listen to while sleeping and sunburning, so there's nothing for me to eve use for "reserving" my chair.  Now I've never sailed RCL, but others I've not had too much difficulty finding  a place to sit. Though it might be different if you're trying to seat a family of four. 

I think individuals who want to spend more time in the pool and not just a dip shouldn't have to worry about this either. There is a big difference between the hogs and people using a chair correctly. Unfortunately I only forsee problems arising because everyone believes they know how to police the situation best. 

I read a post on facebook that the games inside playmaker are free? I'm having a hard time believing this. Can anyone confirm or deny? And do you know which games they have? 

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Hoping for the best but not expecting it. It's a tough one to deal with and enforce. People get nuts. 

I've never experienced chair hogging, but its been awhile since I've cruised. It will be interesting to see if this really is an issue or not. I 100% am not a chair hog, we don't reserve or save seats, we just find some when we arrive at the pool. 

With that said, I know I will be extremely mad if I'm in the pool with my kids and someone tries to move our belongings just because they don't physically see us at the chair at that moment. It kinda shocks me that people would actually touch another's belongings all for a chair. 

15 minutes ago, Mazeylab said:

100$ goes in machine.  Casino keeps 80$. Pays out 20$ 

averaged over time. 

House always wins 

On 3/2/2023 at 9:22 PM, HolyShip said:

Hi Royals!

My significant other and I are soon to go on our first Royal cruise (I believe it's 7-nights). We are both aiming to abstain from alcohol (only except the chef's table dinner which has alcohol provided). We will mainly be drinking coffee, water, and mocktails. I don't know if there's sparkling / flavored water onboard? If there is, that'd be happy news.

So, we're looking at the Refreshment Package. We bought a ton of bottled water through RCL, so the only things we'd drink in the 8-item package are the: mocktails, sparkling water, premium coffees and teas, and I would at least be drinking fresh-squeezed juices every day. We would very likely not partake in the regular milkshakes, fountain sodas, and bottled water.

The package is currently discounted at $27.99/per day vs $36/on board, and the app says the deal is about to end. Question to you all is: based on what I've described, does it sound worth it or no? We did book the premium dining package, but I doubt that includes any beverage benefits.

Buy or save the money and just buy on board?

Thank you so much!

Cancel the water bottles and absolutely get the refreshment package at that price. You will easily get your money's worth! Coffee and juice in the am, couple mocks by the pool, drink at dinner, drink in the evening activities, and grab some h20 for the room. Oh yeah, no problem at all. And that's with a conservative approach. 

Can someone explain this in simple terms for the common folk? 

2 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Cause prices go up at Disney all the time and less and less families now go. LOL. Think again.

There is a big difference between Disney and RC. If the price is about the same where will families go... 

If prices go up, I think you will see less and less families cruising. Makes me wonder if that would be a negative impact down the line? 

On 2/5/2023 at 12:17 PM, Suzanne Elise said:

Side rice should be fine, they were lightning fast with the side veggies. I did order a side protein at lunch and it came out as a full entree. (My main was just salad so perhaps it was an exception.) I did try ordering side protein the last night and was told not until I finished entree. The one might I didn't love my entree I just got an extra salad and was fine. For some reason most of the really bad stuff was ordered by my husband. (I have a pretty long thread if you are interested in what we ate each night.)

The difference in attitude from course to course is just odd. If they say we didn't love a dessert they had a new one out there in 12 seconds. But it was like they had to file a report for a failed entree. Again this was literally the first cruise with new menus on Adventure so I wonder if some of the logistics got over interpreted.

Do you have a link to the thread? Very interested about food menus, service, and the like 

How much pizza can we order at one time? Would i be able to get a whole pie to take back to the room for the family? 

28 minutes ago, morganpink2001 said:

That looks amazing...now I don't know if I want surf and turf or the lobster and pasta...decisions decisions! 

Surf and turf with a side of pasta! 

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

This is where experience and tips come into play. Experience bartenders will let you get two drinks in any combination because they understand the lines can get long, they also will look out for you because they know you tip. My brother was able to get double, doubles all the time because they bartender knew him. Obviously, we don't break any rules but who wants to leave their loungers more than once while on deck. Sometimes the servers will get you multiple drinks as well.

Tips is the key, got it

26 minutes ago, TimeRacer said:

While I think we can generally agree that the DBP is expensive, and the value (or lack thereof) depends on the individual, I think the OP's original rant might have just been to get people talking. From that perspective, it worked. 

Just ranting, but I'm glad it could bring up some discussion with multiple perspectives and viewpoints

17 minutes ago, FireFishII said:

I agree with your rant @Randon1234.  When one tries to figure out if the DBP, they need to calculate all their drinks, not just alcohol.  I choice not do do the DBP because I am a light weigh on the alcohol side.  But I take full advantage of the refreshment package and my 2 free bottles of wine (for dinner).  Then I only purchase a la carte 1 or 2 mix drinks a day. But this summer, I did purchase a DBP at a great price just to see if it would change my drinking habits.  I may just have a drink or two during the afternoons instead of just in the evening. 3-4 drinks along with all my fresh fruit juices, diet coke, and milkshake just may pay for the DBP.  

The price plays a huge factor, but if you got a good deal then you will easily get your money's worth 

16 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

The issue is you said IDs.

However, it is true that as long as you have the proper number of seapass cards you can get corresponding drinks but also you can get more than one alcoholic drink with one seapsss card. I have gotten all my vouchers at once as triples or quadruples. They will also let you get a shot and beer with the DX. 

Does it have to be a shot and beer type combination? or for example, could you order 2 beers at a time with 1 seapass card? 

44 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

I have never purchased the deluxe drink package not because I would not be able to get value out of it, it was because I would have to purchase it for my wife as well and she does not drink that much. Even if I were to call Royal and then just get the refreshment package for her, she is still not going to get the value out of it as she only drinks water, tea and black coffee.

I would just get the refreshment package for me and then get alcohol ala cart. It has saved me hundreds on all my sailings. Now that we are Diamond, we get 4 alcohol dinks per day. She will likely only use 2 per day if that. I will get her other 2 weeee!!

6 comp drinks! Let's go! 

1 hour ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Trust me, virtually everyone here knows the deluxe package includes more than just alcohol.  Yet almost everyone who questions the value of the DBP does so BECAUSE they know they won't drink enough of those non-alcoholic drinks.  That's WHY they say they would need to drink 7-10 alcoholic drinks every day.  When fresh squeezed juices or specialty coffee has no value to you, it gets eliminated from the equation.  So there's very few people who actually fit into your rant.

More than you think, cheers

1 hour ago, Southern Waters said:

I don't get the DBP because I seldom drink alcohol and I'm fine with the iced tea, water, and free juices at breakfast.  I also bring Crystal Light on the Go packets with me and I drink that a lot of the time.  I usually get one mocktail/day which was $8 on Liberty in October (BTW the lava flow is to die for!).   One of my friends on our upcoming June cruise had to get the DBP because her roommate wanted it.  She said she only drinks 1 or 2 glasses of wine/day and didn't think she'd get her money's worth.  I told her about all the other drinks she could get with that package and that made her feel better; she drinks a lot of coffee so the specialty coffees being available was a definite plus.

Tell your friend they can call royal and get the refreshment package even though the roommate is getting the deluxe. They will switch it. 

1 hour ago, Xaa said:

I love the emotional hold the DBP seems to have on people.  I often hear how having it gives them a sense of freedom to order what they want even if they are unsure if they will get value from it.  I also often hear that achieving value from it creates a certain burden on some cruisers.

I would say for anyone not certain they will get value from it, why not instead of giving the $660 pp (80/night plus 18% 7 day cruise) upfront to Royal, just go to guest services when onboard, give them the $660 on account and essentially fund your own DBP.  Then order away!  At the end of the cruise, the amount you have left is the profit you are paying yourself instead of the cruise line.

For those that know they need the DBP, they know it.  I think for those unsure, most will find they spend less.

I really like this idea for those who don't think they'd drink enough to justify the cost. Very interesting concept, thanks for sharing

15 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Sorry, I don't drink coffee, tea, smoothies. Just the occasional diet soda. And only have juice on rare occasions. So don't assume we all would use all those things. 

No assumptions here, enjoy your soda package 

Might be a dumb question, but do you have to book an appointment to go into the spa area? Never been, but is there a sauna or anything that is complementary? 

1 hour ago, Pooch said:

So then what’s your point? People say they can’t drink enough to justify it.  The other included beverages you mention can be had much cheaper with the refreshment or soda packages.  So to make the DBP of value, you have to drink enough booze.

If you don't drink alcohol than obviously the DBP doesn't apply to you. My rant was for the people who think you have to only drink booze to equal the cost of the DBP, (aka i need 7-10 alcoholic drinks every single day) which is in fact not true at all. You have to take the accumulation of all your drinks to determine whether or not the price was justified. 

If you get the DBP and only have 1 beer, but drink enough soda or whatever else to total out to more than the cost of the package, its worth it. Thats my point. 

I think you are questioning a different argument about which is more cost efficient. In my scenario above it would be cheaper to just buy the 1 beer and have everything else on The refreshment package, but that is not what my rant was about. This was for those who strictly claim that the deluxe has to be consumed with nothing but alcohol.