Ryansox

Sadly home....hope everyone had a decent cruise despite everything that went wrong.

My wife and I are eagerly looking forward to a future Alaskan cruise.

Cya all on the cruise!!! Looks like there is a slight delay with boarding on Thursday, just a heads up

On 5/3/2024 at 4:52 PM, USCG Teacher said:

Do you happen to be staying in a suite?  If so, the concierge can almost certainly make it happen.  If not, I'd probably just book the specific nights to be sure, but I'm a fairly risk-adverse type person!

If you have the UDP, can you email your suite concierge and can they make the dining reservations for you?

We decided to bid for the first time on only our 2nd cruise. We went from an ocean view balcony to a grand suite on Ovation of the Seas. We bid $1,500pp which was slightly above the minimum. We actually bid $1,000 which was the max bid for the junior suite, which we were slightly expecting to get. To our surprise we won the grand suite.

When we booked our cruise grand suites were going for $11,000 and we got the room for just around $5,000 all in. We consider that a score because we get all the benefits minus the double points for over half the price!!!

5 hours ago, Andy & Sheryl Unwin said:

For what it's worth, I was in the exact same situation when Marriott bought out Sheraton and Starwood Brands some years ago. I had status with all three.

The points earned for each program simply merged into one, Marriott. Thereafter, based on total points, I was given a new Tier. Based on an accumulated 941 nights spent in those brands, I went from what was then mere platinum at Marriott, to a "Lifetime Titanium Status."

There is no telling if that's what will happen here, but it's fun to speculate. Sheryl and I have not yet cruised on Celebrity; we prefer to stick with one line and have cruised only on Royal Caribbean ships. Perhaps if things merge in a way we feel is beneficial to us, that may change, at least once.

 

 

True but that merge was kinda a disaster for a few years after as they messed up a lot of peoples stuff. Either way I'm looking forward to a combined loyalty program as I've never sailed with Celebrity, I've seen some awesome itineraries I'd love to try one day.

May 9th on Ovation!!!!

1 hour ago, miztp said:

Does anyone know the cost of the unlimited  Specialty Dining on Oasis of the Seas Transatlantic cruise to Spain ?

If you are talking about the 14 day transatlantic from Miami to Barcelona it looks like it is $824.99 per adult and $213.99 per child https://www.royalcaribbean.com/account/cruise-planner/category/pt_packages/product/Y7OE?bookingId=000000&shipCode=OA&sailDate=20240421

Is it crazy that I check the cruise planner daily?

Resolved

Anyone else have any issues with Shore excursions being cancelled or messed up?

Resolved.

On 4/13/2024 at 2:37 PM, VeronicaS1970 said:

So Royal finally updated ShoreEx, 4 whole options. We think we are just going to taxi to the Fairmont Empress and hit up the museum and Parliament. 

It looks like Royal just released a bunch of new excursions for Victoria.

4 hours ago, Joe CHECKLOW said:

I paid for an Alaska cruise not a British Columbia cruise!

Yea, honestly my wife and I would of even preferred a different Alaskan port/glacier or adding an overnight in one of the Alaskan ports we are already going to.

17 hours ago, Anne Anderegg said:

I have a daughter with a soy allergy. She typically just eats meat, fruit, veg as EVERYTHING seems to have soy or we make our own. Any idea how I would find out if things like sorrento pizza crust fir example has soy lecithin in it. Any feedback appreciated. Cruising on Symphony in August

Ask for the information on board, basically at every restaurant. The main dining room staff will usually remember the food allergies for your daughter and whatnot. Every time you go to a different restaurant and windjammer you can talk to a chef and they will have the answers you need.

2 hours ago, Kid in me said:

Would love to know pricing for Jan 31 - Utopia sailing

96 days until the first public sailing of Utopia, I would think we would be getting an official announcement soon and the bookings will go live on the affected sailings.

Could improvements be made on royal's end to improve booking....YES.

Maybe try contacting a government agency and see what they say. I'm no lawyer but I don't think there is anything to be done. Next time do the research ahead of time or use a travel agent (a good travel agent is free to use and is extremely knowledge for people who aren't).

14 hours ago, SweetPea said:

This is what it is on ours 5/31. 

I feel your pain. The OTW Cabanas held at $4099, until they went on sale for $3299, and they are still not selling.

 

 

See on the two cruises I'm on for next year the OTW cabanas are also at 4099 and only a few of them remain. People are paying that much for them so the price won't go down. Really hopped for less so we could snag one but why would royal do that if they can make wayy more if people are willing to spend more.

I totally want to do a eclipse cruise now.

32 minutes ago, VeronicaS1970 said:

Can we board in Vancouver and then get off to explore the city since we are not leaving until 1am? We are arriving very late the night before and would love to see some of Vancouver.

Disappointed about Sitka and the shortened time in Ketchikan, since we had the float plane booked for there.  Waiting to see what Royal offers for excursions, especially Victoria. If nothing good or nothing at all at this rate, will book through viator.

I’m not sure about the getting off part. We called Royal yesterday and asked about the shore excursions since we had a Ketchikan one booked for 9am and we will be arriving later than that. I also asked about excursions for the new port and they said it could go live at any point, so not super helpful. 

4 hours ago, CoffeeNoodle said:

This will be my husband and I's first Alaska cruise!! Only 29 more days to go!

Except the itinerary change that was just sent out a few hours ago has been a slight disappointment as we're no longer sailing to Sitka. 

NOOOOOO. I just checked my email and got the bad news.

It's gotta vary by ship and/or port. I got a 10:00am for Ovation coming up in a month

Check in is officially OPEN on the app!!!! T-45 days

1 hour ago, CO_Mom said:

Yes, we have already booked. When we originally booked, they did not have any adjoining rooms available, so we booked one room.  I have called, and still, no adjoining rooms have opened up.

I was debating on trying a "royal up," a $500 minimum bid for a junior suite, so we are trying to decide if it was worth it. 

That really doesn't sound like a bad price. $500 minimum x2 so $1,000 for the upgraded room. Personally I would as you'd enjoy the little bit of extra space and SEA class benefits.

I'm assuming the room is already booked and you would be doing a "Royal up"??? Depends on the cost. I wouldn't spend more than it would of cost for the junior suite to begin with. Also I wouldn't spend more than it would cost to get 2 Oceanview Balcony's. Having 2 bathrooms is huge, when traveling with family it's often better and cheaper to book 2 connecting staterooms for the extra space and bathroom over getting a more expensive suite. You will be more comfortable in a junior suite over the 1 balcony room as it is slightly larger. Plus you will all be able to enjoy dinner at Coastal Kitchen and get some of the other little suite details being in a Junior Suite.

11 hours ago, CO_Mom said:

We have an Alaskan Cruise coming up on Quantum of the Seas. We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 tweens). We are trying to decide if an upgrade from an Oceanview balcony to a Junior Suite is worth considering. We are new to cruising, so any thoughts would be appreciated. 

My wife and I's first cruise was only a 3 night on the independence of the seas (same class ship). There was still so much stuff we didn't have time to do. We didn't go to the fitness center, get to play any of the sports, no rock climbing, didn't play mini golf, and we didn't get into any of the pools. I'm sure there were probably other stuff we missed out on as well.

I guess it's all relative to you though. I think 7 nights would of been a better experience so we could actually enjoy the ship a little instead of always running around to the different activities and then spending most of our time off the ship at ports. We've never been on an Quantum, Oasis, or Icon class ship yet so we cannot compare. I couldn't imagine only being on some of these Oasis and Icon class ships for only 7 days. It doesn't seem like nearly enough time to get to do everything.