JFCruise

I'll keep that in mind. As far as MDR - I've always had dinner there. Never in the buffet or restaurant or whatever. I've never had a problem with something that wasn't good, except for one time I ordered a dessert I misread and wasn't what I was expecting, but whatever. I find small portions as a pro, because you're able to have more variety.

Not to sound pedantic, but coffee isn't food. The cupcakes well, yeah I forgot about that. I do, disagree with the "it's only late night food". There's usually always some people in there at all times, and even I go there for a slice at a random afternoon time once or twice per cruise. Either way, I really hope they have some good sense about it.

Are portion sizes similar to the MDR? In the MDR my wife and I can usually have more than one starter/entree but we aren't the biggest of eaters. And I'm like you, I'm usually a steak purist, to the point where I almost never order steak at restaruants and prefer to do it myself, by my own rules. But a sauce that's made with a pretty expensive wine sounds interesting.

I'm probably way off - but do RC have any sort of grab-and-go food that costs money? I can't really think of one, but I'm not as experienced as others so I might be off. I doub that the model for Sorrentos is made for charging. Lines can get long at certain hours and charging upfront would make lines even slower and longer and more annoying. They may be thinking about charging for "create your own" pizza, or even they are feeling out if they might want to add a paid pizza option - hopefully with better quality - that is additional to Sorrento's. I don't think they are that dense. I can't imagine too much people lining up to pay for very meh pizza.

Thanks for the info. I saw the filet on the menu and it's in the "definitely maybe" category for when we sail. I usually try to avoid ordering steak at restaurants because I always end up dissapointed, but the Barolo sauce sounds interesting.

Thanks a lot for the screenshots, I didn't think of checking other dates. The app is particularly weird with my sailing since also the MDR menu isn't available - but I know what to expect there.

When I made the reservation, the kid's fee was free. There is also a kid's menu - and my kid wouldn't mind eating off it. I was just curious if he would be able to have anything from the regular menu but if he can't, it's no big deal.

I didn't even realize there were 2 different ones. It's Table - Independence OTS. I've also edited the post to make it clear, thanks for the head's up.

After 8 or so cruises, I finally bit the bullet and I'm actually paying for speciality dining on a cruise. Technically not dining, but still. We decided to have lunch at Giovanni's Table in our next cruise but there are a few things I haven't yet been able to find: 1. Is the menu different from lunch to dinner? For some reason in the Cruise planner in the app it says that the restaurant will be closed all days except the first one, and in the first day it only shows the dinner menu. 2. Is it like the MDR where I can order a couple of starters, or is it a more strict policy regarding what I can have? 2.a - We are taking a 4 year old. So we didn't pay for his lunch. Can we maybe share from what we order and have more a family meal than 'each eats their own dish'? 3. What is the dress code for lunch and what is a real no-no? What is actually enforced? The Planner says 'Smart Casual' but is that only for dinner? 4. What are some recommendations regarding dishes? Any must haves? Anything that's not particularly great? Thanks in advance for any answers. And to end in a funny note - I realized a few hours after booking that we booked the same day it's Italian Night at the MDR, apparently. I'm still not sure if I'll go all italian all day, or try to mix it up with something different at night.

In Cozumel, my recommendation is go to Mercado Municipal Benito Juarez to eat cochinita pibil. It's one of the most delicious things you can eat. The place is literally a market - so it's nothing fancy. But the food stalls have some great cochinita. I was last there about 5 years ago, and my wife and I ended up eating a whole bunch of tacos and gorditas and I can't even remember what else. We ended up paying about $15US total.

I think that the issue is most of us are never going to get to the upper levels of CAS, so the "exclusive discounts" for us seem more like an exception than a rule, to be honest. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/sgp/en/crown-anchor-society/balcony-and-suites-chart?country=SGP This link is on the Singapore site (and can't find it on the US site for whatever reason), but it seems to be accurate.

Thanks for all the answers above. And to be clear, I wasn't furious or arm waving, just confused and frustrated. I didn't yell at anyone or threw anyhing at anyone either. I'm guilty of using the word scam wrong, but honestly I was feeling a bit frustrated at the whole thing, especially since the sales rep couldn't tell me why the discounts didn't stack up for me. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I knew I wasn't seeing the full picture. From my understanding now, is that the "30% off" $100 discount that is offered to everyone is not combinable with the CAS offer. So at my level they cancel out. Ok, I can live with that - I still don't understand the first discount in the first place but whatever. That's because they want to show the best deal from the customer's perspective. In cruise's discounts, you are saving money. In airfare, you are giving them money.

1. The Windjammer is a buffet, and there are a bunch of kid-friendly options. Sorrentos gives you pizza by the slice (and not huge slices). The cafe has individual sized deserts. The MDR has a kid's menu, although your kid doesn't need to order from it. The portions are pretty solid for a toddler. 2. Costa Maya kinda sucks. But there is an aviary in there. I took my 4 year old there and he loved it. You can buy tickets on the RC site and are cheaper than onsite. 3, 4. I don't really have an answer. 5. I think most ships have minigolf. It's pretty relaxed in there. The only problem is the wind when the ship is sailing. He's not going to be able to do the zip line, the rock climbing wall, or the FlowRider. I think Harmony has a carrousel. They also have some activities on the 'kids club'. 6. I don't know about those specific products. I think everything in the gift shop is priced "fairly" for a gift shop. ie. Overpriced, but not abusively so (compared to other gift shop types) 7. The stateroom attendant is one. If you go to the MDR, the waiter and the assistant waiter. There might be some manger-ey type of people but you won't interact with them daily. I can't think of any more. If you are planning to drop him at Adventure Ocean, there are a bunch of different people there. 8. Most activities you can reserve online. I don't know if Harmony still has the escape room. 9. Very likely. But I'd recommend you looking at one closer to the date, because some things definitely change - like entertainment options. 10. Yes. Almost all shows are family friendly. And when one isn't (like the Quest or the Love and Marriage), they will make sure everyone is aware it is not kid friendly. Multiple times.

I'm a Platinum member. According to the C&A benefits program PDF (https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/crown-and-anchor-society-benefit-grid.pdf), I'm eligible for a discount on Balcony staterooms and above. However, it seems like the discount is nothing more than a scam, or at least a big fat lie. I went into the RC site to get a quote for a cruise. To avoid any sort of error, I used an incognito tab. The one in question is a 7 night Harmony of the Seas cruise for 2 fake persons. The first screenshot I'm posting here is the cruise fare, with absolutely no add-ons at all. The total is for $1873.48, in has the NRD 'kicker', a '30% off every cruise', plus a super dubious $100 '30%off every cruise'. Then I went forward to the payment page to check teh final price, and for sure, it was the same 1873.48 from the previous page. I then went back to the previous page and put my actual information in the site, and added my C&A number. The super dubious $100 discount now changed to be a 'Balc Suite NRD' discount. The payment page was exactly the same as the second screenshot. I then called Royal Caribbean to quote the same cruise cruise, but the initial price was higher than the 1873.48 so I had no intentions to actually go forward, and when asked about the C&A discount the sales rep basically said something along the lines of "Oh I don't know, I can only give you the price the system shows me". So is there something funny going on? The same PDF I linked above says absolutely nothing about any sort of restrictions for the discount - it only says that But are the discounts on the main site that are always there ("Up to $550 off!" "30% off every cruise") part of that restriction? Because if they are, then no one will ever be eligible since RC always shows some sort of discount. And even then, why did the label on the $100 change after I punched in my C&A number? To be clear, I tested this with a few different cruises - so it's not a one-time error or something similar. So are the C&A discount incentives just fake? Or am I (and I hope this is the case) missing something?