jticarruthers

Soda package is pretty cheap $5-6 a day depending on age I think? So if they are soda drinkers that might be worth it.
 
If they have the freestyle machines on your cruise you can also get flavored Dasani water instead of soda so it doesn't have to be an unhealthy drink choice :)
 
The package for about $20 a day I believe adds the frozen "virgin" cocktails to the package as an additional option if they would be into that.

Think it varies by ship, just off Vision of the Seas (older Vision class) and they seemed to be very strict. Got called to the naughty room to sign over my powerstrip that I have taken on all 14 cruises before without a problem.
 
Sidenote - Got to listen to the jackass from one of the Suites abusing the poor security guard for 20 minutes because he wouldn't let him take his iron, he wanted the ships captain personally to come down to security and explain to him who was going to iron his tux for him before he would step aside and let the rest of us do our thing. (Eventually we all kind of pushed around him so we could sign over our stuff and get going).
 
Don't recall seeing any bags pulled for hair straighteners but there was a large pile for powerstrips, several for irons, etc.
 
My advice would be to bring it, if they do take it from you they give it back at the end of the cruise and if they don't then you have it. Just don't be a jackass if they do take it from you :)

Our kids were doing "virgin" frozen drinks last cruise, in particular they seemed to like the Strawberry Daiquiri, I think just about any frozen drink could be made "virgin" if you were near a bar.

Ditto with Vision of the Seas this past weekend.
 
Sea days were untracked, Cozumel had the towels on Deck 2 at the gangway and you had to check-in/check-out, painless since you walked right by the table both ways anyway.

For a first cruise I would recommend against buying the package until you get a feel for how much drinking you will be doing onboard.
 
The drinks can get pretty pricey though so if you find yourself enjoying your beverages at a steady rate, it might make sense to buy the package mid-cruise (not sure how long of a cruise you are going on).
 
Lots of threads have debated the value of the package, we (my wife actually) tried it on our last cruise and I think she about broke even financially but was much happier about not having to worry about her bill and trying "different" drinks. It was a ship intensive cruise though (few port days and one of them was an RCL private island so the package still applied). On a port intensive cruise I think we will pass on the packages.
 
Ultimately every person gets different mileage out of the package and there is no easy one answer fits all.

You have to buy it for at least the last 4 days of your cruise (or the whole cruise on a 3 day/4 day cruise).
 
You cannot buy it for a couple of days and then stop it, once you buy it is for the rest of the cruise.
 
They put a sticker on your card showing what package you purchased.
 
Sharing the drink package is against the rules, whether you want to risk getting caught, etc. is a personal decision.

Enable free local(not internet) wifi onboard so we can communicate with friends via mobiles and tablets. This would be a great help in locating, catching up and organising activities with friends

Anything with an asterisk next to it is excluded from the packages

Just posted a list of beers and prices from my March cruise on Allure in the other drink package thread if you want to check there.

I pretty consistently wear nice shorts and a polo to the MDR, have never had anything close to a problem.
 
Formal nights - Slacks and a nice shirt
Chops Grille, etc. - Slacks and a nice shirt.
 
I know the policy is more dressy but have never had a problem with it and it is much more convenient and comfortable for me on vacation.

Soda package is pretty cheap $5-6 a day depending on age I think? So if they are soda drinkers that might be worth it.
 
If they have the freestyle machines on your cruise you can also get flavored Dasani water instead of soda so it doesn't have to be an unhealthy drink choice :)
 
The package for about $20 a day I believe adds the frozen "virgin" cocktails to the package as an additional option if they would be into that.

$1 ? Move along people, nothing to see here ....
 
:) Not aimed at the poster just the angst over $1 when you have paid $1000's

$1 ? Move along people, nothing to see here ....
 
:) Not aimed at the poster just the angst over $1 when you have paid $1000's

I don't understand why Royal Caribbean has all these offers, coupons, savings certificates, credit card points, that really no one understands, even their own employees. All it does is cause confusion and screws things up. You are lucky in your case. It is really a hassle to read all the fine print, and in the end just makes more work than it is worth.
 
Also their booking system and online reservation system is so complicated and antiquated. It is easier to get approved for a mortgage than book a cruise! For a brand that has so many billion dollar ships, they certainly lack in other areas. 

I had an interesting thing happen when I booked my last cruise which is coming up in September. I booked thru RC and I told the agent I had a savings certificate from the C&A. The agent says let me see if I can get a better one for you so he comes back and says I have a 300.00 special you can use and of course I said sure. He said this will take a few days to show up on your booking. I kept checking back and talked to another agent who said yea its still in the pipeline. I checked back a week later and it still was not there so I called again got a very nice agent who checked and said that was if you sailed by a certain date and you are sailing after that. My responce was than why was I told it could be done and she could not answer that so I ask to talk to a supervisor and was connected to one I can't recall her name but again a very nice one. I told her what happened and of course she said they never should have told you that and said they need to make sure agents are told not to promise things they can't do.
 
Well she goes on and says I can't give that deal but I will take 125.00 off you bill and add 175.00 to your on board account and that adds up to 300.00. Well to say I was happy with that goes without asking I feel RC went well above what they had to do.  I guess the lesson is if you feel something is wrong dont call up and yell at people call up and try to reason with them because it works much much better.
 
This experience with RC has left me with a very good feeling and I will be back cruising with them many more times.
 
ERS

If you open the attachment at the top of this thread there is a second page to the attachment that is easy to miss if you don't scroll all the way to the end (it looks like it is just a 1 pager) .... on the second page it reveals the Open booking credit is now :
 
$25 for a 5-7 day cruise, $50 for an 8-10 day cruise, $75 for an 11-14 day and $100 for a 15+ day cruise.
 
No distinction for type of cabin, purely driven by length of cruise.

Thought I saw language in the fine print to the effect of "when changing the future date on a confirmed cruise we reserve the right to revert the OBC to that of an open booking", basically to say that if you deliberately book a date just to qualify for the higher OBC and then change it to the cruise you really wanted you would lose the higher benefit.

Thanks both of you, makes sense to keep it quiet but I was hoping that was the case.
 
James

Just an update, received official confirmation from RCI last night that this is the case. They indicated you can buy it on any day of the cruise as long as their are at least 4 days left and that it is pro-rated.