Todd

No wine only package. Here is a complete break down of drinks and package on Royal that Matt did for the Blog. (pricing maybe is a little off now) http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-drink-prices I believe to get wine you would need to purchase the select package.

The photos are offered as single prints, CD, or in packages. The packages can be CD only, prints only, or CD and Prints. The pricing is high for the packages and depends upon the length of the cruise. The total package, all prints and CD is $249 to $399 but discounts are offered for C & A and some on the ship like $50 off package promo. But if you want to purchase a single photo the price is around $30. They also seem to offer a package of a few photos for around $100 dollars. The photo package can be a good deal if you have them take many photos. Reynaline loves photos so while is may seem like a very costly package with 100 to 200 pictures per cruise the costs is much more reasonable per picture.

Regular coffee and tea is free on the ships in the dinning rooms and in self service areas. Inside your cabin will be a coffee machine, package coffee, tea, sugar, cream are all available at no costs from the self service areas or the cabin attendants. The coffee that are not free are the upgrade specialty coffees, or branded coffee stands like Starbucks. I also understand about booking a cruse back to your home port. Last Summer we did a 10 day Hong Kong to Singapore Cruise and it had three stops in the Philippines. The Manila stop really was of no interest to us, but it turned out to be a good stop, almost everyone got off the ships and we had the whole ship for what seemed to ourselves. The hotel director told me 85% plus of the passengers were off the ships. I just stepped off to take a couple of pictures of the ship with Manila in the background and then back on. Ports seem to become less important the more you cruise. Most of the time port stops are far two short to really explore and get a good look at the ports. But Royal has been doing more overnight port stops in Asia which helps to give more time to get to know the ports.

I agree with Waaaytooo about the food on Royal. Never had a problem finding something I liked in the main dinning room. Yes Chops is a little more upscale than the MDR and you do get a better steak. It is worth a try but I'm sure you will find more than enough food to be very happy. I would recommend that you look at the drink packages, (non alcohol) because even if you just have a couple sodas (Coke, etc) a day it will pay for itself. I'm sure you will have two great trips.

I have had officers (other Royal Ships never cruised on Anthem) doing the same thing making excuses for the crew.

Here is the close hotels to the port under four miles. Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Port Canaveral 1.33 miles from cruise port Address: 9009 Astronaut Blvd, Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920 Residence Inn Cape Canaveral Cocoa Beach 1.48 miles from cruise port Address: 8959 Astronaut Boulevard, Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920 Radisson Resort at the Port 1.78 miles from cruise port Address: 8701 Astronaut Blvd, Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920 Holiday Inn Club Vacations Cape Canaveral Beach Resort 2.23 miles from cruise port Address: 1000 Shorewood Drive, Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920 Royal Mansions Resort 2.57 miles from cruise port Address: 8600 Ridgewood Avenue, Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920 Discovery Beach Resort 3.53 miles from cruise port Address: 300 Barlow Ave., Cocoa Beach, Florida 32931 BEST WESTERN Cocoa Beach Hotel & Suites 3.63 miles from cruise port Address: 5600 N Atlantic Ave, Cocoa Beach, Florida 32931-3920 La Quinta Inn & Suites Cocoa Beach Oceanfront 3.67 miles from cruise port Address: 1 Hendry Ave, Cocoa Beach, Florida 32931 Las Olas Beach Club of Cocoa Beach 3.81 miles from cruise port Address: 5100 Ocean Beach Blvd, Cocoa Beach, Florida 32931

Ever thought how many nights on Royal it would take to become the top passenger on the line? Seems that for most is is way outside what is possible. Royal Super C &A member Mario Salcedo is about to celebrate his 6,000th night with Royal Caribbean—that is around 850 individual cruises. “Nothing could lure me away from them, because I get treated like royalty,†he chuckles, punningly, “The captains all know me.†Indeed, it was Liberty of the Seas captain Charles Teige who first called him Super Mario a decade ago, a nickname that’s stuck from ship to ship. 6000 nights on Royal, now that is a loyal passenger. http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-05-06/this-man-has-been-living-on-cruise-ships-for-twenty-years

Great Video from Royal about Ovation coming to New Zealand this year. Royal has tapped into a great market with China for the Northern Summer season and Australia New Zealand for the Southern Summer Season. It is clear from the bookings and the interest royal made a great choice basing this ship in Asia. http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/video.cfm?c_id=1503079&gal_cid=1503079&gallery_id=160518

I have cruise many lines over the years, but now mostly Royal. The cruise is based more upon my location than the cruise line itself. Living in Asia I have really only two cruise lines operating full time here. Royal is the largest and the second is Star Cruises, other companies offer a few cruises a year but no one else offers a complete cruise season. That said I do like Royal and the features and benefits offered by them. If I was able to cruise from other parts of the World I maybe would book some other lines. But as my fellow American Expat Posters here know, that while we may hold the Golden World Tickets (US Passports) our wives and partners many times do not and Visa issues limiting travel choices. Royal provides a product here in Asia that allows for several cruises each year.

Another only Royal movement.

I know at this time Royal is not offering the Royal Suite Class Benefits for sailings that originate in China. This may change in the future but it seems to be the direction they are taking. Since your cruise starts in Australia maybe it could and will be offered as the AU market is different than the China market.

You do have another way to get the attention of Royal over these matters but most passengers would not like it or do it. Very simple, since we all paying Royal for the total charges for the cruise. But we have a few areas we can adjust, If a large number of passengers went to Guest Services and said they would reduce the auto daily gratuity by $100 because we were not allowed to use the C & A Discount it would get the attention of upper management. Before my fellow posters jump all over me and say it is not fair, the crew works hard, etc, etc, it is a way to get the attention of management. Is a work strike ever fair to the customers? I had a business years ago in Boston and the dockworkers were on strike, my shipment was stuck on the docks with thousands of others. The dockworkers won in the end in part because normal customers like me were talking to the news media and sending angry calls and messages to the port management. But still option is a choice each passenger needs to make.

If the Genie cannot do that at the least the whole program should be ended. You are not asking for much, dinner reservations for your whole group. I would think any passenger group on the ship, should be able to get this basic level of service done. Really the only thing you are for is a group reservation.

I've own RCCL stock in one form or another for a long time now. It has been very profitable for me. But many would disagree with how I buy and sell. Royal overall is a solid company but the stock is driven by the public image of the company is doing. So major failures by Royal or the market in general is great buying points. If you buy Royal on one of these down turns and can hold for a longer period of time you will be very happy with the return. I purchase the stock at under $9.00 per share in September of 2001, as a overall market play along with Carnival, Disney, and the US Airlines. Within a few months the market returned to the correct level. I have and do put in for the cruise credit, but I have made many more cruise dollars have been paid from my market profits than from the extra discount.

Ovation of the Seas, made its inaugural port call here over the weekend becoming the largest cruise ship ever to dock at Gibraltar. The ship was welcome upon arrival by Minister for Tourism Samantha Sacramento with ceremony on board, commemorative plaques were exchanged with the ship’s captain. Many more of these to come for this ship as it is done in every first time port for Royal ships. “We are delighted to be receiving in Gibraltar, one of the largest ships operating in the global cruise industry at the moment.†said Samantha Sacrament

That is because you see and understand the real value in your businesses.....the customers. It seems Royal has growth so large and so fast that they have loss site of this simple fact. Other big name American companies come to mind some that recognize the changing business World and others that failed to do so. 100 years ago Sears was the only real national retailer in the United States. When I was going up everyone shopped at Sears and had their catalogs, look at sears today. Just because you are big and on top of the market does not mean you will stay there. Royal needs to value customers much more than they do and respect them.

It is a benefit that costs nothing. I always put the request in, and many times the credit is given, sometimes they claim not available. But if that happens I also notice to the Manager of Shareholder Relations, and express displeasure.

I believe part of the problem is the rate which Royal and other cruise lines are adding new and larger ships. Because the number of cabins have gone up so fast, very hard to get good crew members. In the past the crew seem to spend much more time in lower levels before being moved up, and then they were promoted much better trained. Now it seems they just need bodies to fill positions. Every time I have talked to senior offers about y issues with crew regardless of the problem the same point is always made. "They are young kids, who try hard" I'm sorry but try hard is not good enough, the newer members of the crews really need much better training. While the number of ships, ports, lines is way up for cruising the service quality has failed to keep up with this growth.

The "official" Royal answer is to allow 14 days for points to post.

As Matt knows even on a small site like this blog thousands of lines of code. So to make a small change in one place requires changes in many places. Now if you upscale to a site as large as Royal has a single price change could involve changing a few thousand pages, one line of code is missed and it causes hundreds of issues. So I believe Matt's answer is really the correct one here, with the sales and promotional departments wanting changes, I think the IT department cannot keep up with all these changes and it results in errors and mistakes on the site.

I know on the ships that swipe your card before taking the pictures. Those ships do store your photos for a period of time. If you purchase some pictures you can access your file and make purchases for a while after the cruise. But not all ships have this feature and age and size do not control what ship has this system. On Mariner of the Seas they did not have but the older smaller Legends of the Sea did offer this feature. Not much help but it is something....sorry I do not have a better answer.

It is not about giving people the best deal. Royal marketing is about the deal people believe they are getting. Many studies have been done in businesses with negotiated pricing, like car sales. And these studies show on average the customers that got the lowest price deal (Least Dealer Profit) were not the happiest customers. The group on average again, that believed they got a great deal was the ones that paid average to above average profit to the dealer. This is why Royal (Cruise Lines) offer so many deals, different people find different things important and believe it makes the best deal.

I know was not a negative comment against you.....I to have swallowed those hooks. Somehow the hook always is easy going in but painful in the end.

I would just book the three nights, it always seem to work out in the end. If you have already paid they will get you in as they do not want to refund.

You're to much a nice lady to say how you really feel. But knowing you through many post we know how you really feel. How Royal handled great clients like you, is a lesson in what not to do that could be presented in any MBA program.