jticarruthers

Split bathroom is Epic only, they learned from that debacle

On reflection you may be right that it was entirely not included in the package, but as noted in other responses we really looked at it as more of an experience than a drink so didnt cause any concern for us.

The "official' garage is directly across the street and not that expense (from memory <$20 per day) ... if convenience is your concern i would definitely just go with it and be done.

Cant speak to all ships and all bars, but i have been on one breakaway class and one breakaway plus and found every drink i asked for to be fully covered. The only exception was the ice bar on one of the ships which charged a cover charge for admission to everyone but then did not charge me for my drink inside since that was on the package (IIRC,its been a while),

The increased price of the drink package by itself wouldnt cause me to look at another line, but the increased cost of prices at Royal across the board did get me too look and honestly i now find myself looking at Royal, Carnival and Norwegian whenever i am looking for a cruise. This year Royal won all my business on the basis of a reduced availability and the Mariner doing the weekend cruise runs so the two came together, Carnival and Norwegian are on tap for next year based on price/destination while offering a similar experience.

I struggle mightily with the drink package .. with several free drinks a night, no interest in coffees, juices, etc. its tough for me to make an economic argument for the package. Convenience only carries me so far ...

Sit and relax on one of the beaches - free Sit and relax at the pool - free Stay onboard and relax at the (empty) pool - free

I'm already only buying the package for convenience not savings at $52+grats .... if the price stays above that i'm not buying. Convenience isn't worth that much to me.

Shorter answer ... yes they do play games with the pricing too make you think you are getting a better deal. Sometimes there really is a good deal where they are struggling to sell something but its mostly marketing speak, with that said if you wait until you get onboard they do jack up the prices onboard so even if the sale isnt really a sale its still better than you will get if you dont take the deal.

I did the 3 day on Mariner several times this year, have to say the only thing i didnt care for was not having a sea day at all. Definitely missed having a day of shipboard activities, probably staying aboard in Nassau next time but as you noted they dont do the full slate of activities on board on a port day. All in all, probably about as good of a "problem" as one can have 🙂

I think Royal would step in on the topless/nudity side but cant see them getting involved on "borderline" issues ... if its covering the critical pieces i dont see they have an issue, so i would say if your comfortable wearing it, go for it.

interstingly i just went to look at the cabana option and the verbiage for it and the day pass to the waterpark now reads ... All guests under 14 years of age must be accompanied by a ticketed guest of age 14 or older to enter. Not sure if it literally just changed or if it out of date, but hitting print screen and taking that sucker with me since mine are both 16 ...

They enforced it with me last time i was there, seems like you might be ok with the 26 year old cousin though as an adult. In my case they said "need to have an adult with them" rather than "a parent or legal guardian". Honestly this rule irritates me much more than it should .... my teenager can ride the slides on the ship unsupervised, can use the pool and hot-tub on the ship unsupervised, can go on the flowrider, rock wall, ice rink, etc. without me once i sign the initial waiver .... but he cant go in the waterpark by himself? I have to pay to go in and sit at a table while he runs around by himself ...

Pretty sure the paper ones are bad for tree life though ... 😉

Found an accidental work around on this issue this week ... Had two cabins booked ... two adults in one cabin with and one adult and a teen in the 2nd. Bought drink package for all 3. Called in to have one of the adults swapped from the 1st cabin to the 2nd and the teen moved the other way. System cancelled the drink package purchased for passenger 2 in cabin 1 and DID NOT require the purchase of a drink package for adult 2 now in cabin 2. So at this point i have 1 adult with the package in each cabin and the 2nd adult in cabin 2 does not have it. Actually buying the package today for that adult since she did want it anyway and its back on "sale" again but wanted to pass along the process in case anyone wants to try and do it on purpose.