melski94

We also had the same table for all of our cruises with MTD. I don't think it's a fluke as I think they would like to keep you with the same wait staff, assuming you plan to eat around the same time each night.

Yes plus the variances by ship. What worked on one ship may not be the same on another ship.

I'll let you know this weekend. I turned off charging privileges for my youngest and she has $25 arcade credit. I know she'll burn through it quick and so hopefully she can't continue to play. Our first cruise many years ago, we could just buy arcade credit onboard. Last year on Harmony, I was told we couldn't buy it onboard but could only refill anything already charged. I think it varies ship to ship but right now I would rather just buy it upfront rather than wait and see what I can do onboard.

I booked my March 2020 MTD just a few weeks ago and could only book 6:30. That is my preferred time so it worked for me. However, normally this early I would have every 15 minutes from 5:30 to 6:30 and 7:30 to 9:00 available. I don’t know why all the slots aren’t showing up as I can’t imagine they are full already. You could try calling to see if you can get a different time.

Are you from the NE? It could be cold for the first 2 days and last 2 days of your cruise. Not sure if traveling to Fl is an option for you. Anthem has the sea plex with go carts and x box games. Every ship has an arcade. I strongly suggest you read blogs about Anthem and look at the cruise planner for your unique situation. For FL, I’m assuming you are stopping at Cape Canaveral. My kids are looking forward to seeing the space center. If you do decide to book, I would suggest making a booking with a refundable deposit. Things happen and you may change your mind and that way you can cancel up to 90 days before your cruise and receive a full refund.

I’m all about saving money but the arcade credit is incredibly difficult to use. Yes I tried it on Harmony and it was so hard and some of my kids cards worked and 1 wouldn’t work in the arcade and then we never got the discount! It was so frustrating! You need to allow full charging privileges for your kids. Then it’s on you to keep count of every $1.25 charge in the arcade (good luck if you have more than 1 child), then you go to the loyalty desk to prove that you should get your credits applied. Then maybe you receive your $5 or $25 after a lot of work. It is so much easier to prepay on the cruise planner for arcade credit. You don’t get quite the discount but you save yourself so much time and frustration. The kids C&A benefits kill me! So worthless! Discount on coffee for my 8 year old...Umm no thanks. I’d rather have a discount on a milkshake but they aren’t going to give you a benefit that you’d actually use!

If you haven't prepaid gratuity, it will be charged to your onboard account at $14.50 a day per person. Personally, I would rather not have such a large bill at the end of the cruise, so we prepay the gratuity. We tip in addition to the daily gratuity. It isn't necessary or mandatory but if we like our stateroom attendant and how he/she deals with my slobs (aka kids) then we tip an extra $20. Same with the wait staff. Giving $1 for a drink will make sure you keep getting good service throughout the pool/bar and they will remember you the next day. Once again, nothing mandatory but a nice gesture. The chances of getting sea sick depend on the individual. The ship is relatively stable but if mother nature creates big waves there is only so much that a ship can do. My family is prone to motion sickness (cars, planes, ships) so I always have medicine packed. Our cruise on Harmony saw some large swells which was tough for my 7 yo. Most of the time we don't need it but I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

In general, I find that excursions through RC have a strict age limit, however, those same providers will have lower age limits if you book directly with them. You don't have the benefit of RC transportation but if you chose to leave at the same time as the RC bus, you should be ok to get back in time. My daughter is 7 and we haven't been able to book RC excursions but book them on our own as we feel comfortable.

Also, in the MDR if your kids ask for a soda and aren't on a package but you are on a UDP package, the wait staff will *usually* not charge you. Only once (day one with a new Asst waiter), was I charged for a soda for one of my sons. I think he may have been chewed out by the waiter as I wasn't charged the rest of the week. I don't ask for a free soda and will pay for it without a fuss if given a bill. However, I find the wait staff to be very lenient for the kids especially if the parents have the UDP.

We were fine in a balcony on Adventure. There was no worry about seats for any shows as most were half full. I like Jr Suites for the size but for that price what else could you get to make your cruise....drink package, unlimited dining, chef table, cabana or another nice excursion?

I believe I can make specialty dining reservations on Symphony with an app but which app? Is it the Royal IQ or Royal? I’m hoping to be able to access the app in the terminal to make a reservation or should I go straight to a specialty restaurant to make reservations? I can never figure out which app to use on board.

@Baked Alaska I am so glad that everything worked out for you but from what I read, most of the insurance companies, even without Cancel for Any Reason, would have covered a medical condition. Most policies require a note from the doctor stating you can't travel and the policy covers the entire party. I think the ambiguity comes in with flight cancellations. Is it considered Trip Interruption, a Trip Delay or something else? Does your insurance expect you to get to the first port? I recently learned that mine does and I can only get my money back for the cruise portion if I miss 50% of the cruise (I've been on the phone asking those questions). Even with CFAR insurance, my insurance states that I need to cancel at least 48 hours prior to my trip so CFAR wouldn't cover any flight delays. There is too much fine print and insurance companies will do everything they can not to pay a claim! I don't really know what the right company is for me now but I'm using this company for all my already booked cruises. I plan on looking around for something else to see if there are different options. Outside a medical condition, I'm realizing that a flight cancellation is the most likely scenario for me and I want decent coverage for that.

I'm really sorry to hear about this. You should get all your money back from RC for shore excursions and other cruise planner purchases. I assume you have filed your claim with AON (the travel insurance through RC). Unfortunately, I don't think the flight cancellation is a covered reason to receive cash back for your cruise but not knowing what state you are from, I can't see your exact policy. The best you are probably looking at is a 75% future cruise credit which is better than nothing. I think we've all learned several things about travel insurance recently due to other people. Many travel insurance companies won't cover some basics that we all assumed were covered as they all have ways to not pay. Here is a recent experience from the blog

I just checked my kids in yesterday and I didn’t see a way to limit amounts this cruise but I did see it in the past. The choices were credit card, cash or no charging privileges.

In March, we were on a 7 day cruise on Adventure and had lobster on the 2nd formal night.

Actually, you receive one code and it’s good for 4 devices.

Many of the questions have been answered but I'll expand on #8 MTD. There are several decks of the MDR. Typically traditional is on 2 decks and MTD is on its own deck/restaurant. Your sea pass card will tell you which restaurant and deck you've been assigned. You can make a reservation in the cruise planner before your cruise. We like to make reservations at 6:30 every night and on every cruise we've had the same wait staff and table. The only time we don't have the same wait staff and table is if we make our reservation much later due to an activity. We like having the same wait staff and table as it makes service much easier as they get to know you but I don't like the traditional dining times as they are too early or too late for my family. We have no problem seeing shows for the most part. With MTD, you are more likely to sit at a table with your own party as many people with MTD hate the traditional dining of sitting with strangers. You can chose to not make reservations with MTD but then it is like a land restaurant and you may need to wait for a table to be ready. The first night is a bit crazy with long lines as everyone is trying to figure out the tables, etc but after that it moves very quickly.

If you are on a Transatlantic or Pacific, the ship will change time zones usually at 2 am. I would highly suggest you take your watch off the auto time zone and manually set it to match ship time. If your ship is in the Caribbean, the ship time doesn't always change to match local time. Thats up to the Captain to decide to change time or not. If any doubt about time, just check with the crew or your TV in your stateroom. Any time changes will be listed on the cruise compass. When we leave the ship at a port, I always verify with staff what is local time vs ship time.

We have March 2021 booked already (actually 2 weeks booked as I'm not sure of our Spring Break dates yet). I always book the refundable deposit. Yes, the price is higher initially but it is will still cheaper than waiting until November when I am sure of our dates as I know the prices will go up. I also like the ability to change our plans if something comes up. I have a Alaska cruise booked in 2020 but my daughter may study abroad. If thats the case then we may go visit her instead of going to Alaska. I like knowing I can change my plans and get my money back up to final payment which is 90 days before the cruise. We like connecting staterooms and those will go quick on March cruises so I book those as soon as I can.

Us too. We can only cruise during our summer dead period which lasts only 2 weeks (and my daughter has a championship meet the first week) so really only 1 week which we will be on Navigator this year. Only 2 more summers and then hopefully more time. Really love the idea of both ports and hope they do this more! It will be interesting where Independence will sail.

Is the bus transfer available on your shore excursion page? Have you called RC to ask your specific question? Are you using a travel agent? If so, I’d ask them to figure it out. While we can try to help, most of us have never taken a cultural cruise out of China. Yes, the transfer is 2 hours but if you head to the airport from downtown, it’s at least an hour in the opposite direction to the port. The airport is located near Shunyi on your map. There was a really great China RC (I don’t remember the exact ship) cruise blog on cruise critic a few weeks ago. I found it very interesting as I lived in Beijing many years ago. I hope you read it so you know what to expect.

You should check with your Travel agent. China does allow visitors from certain countries to enter certain cities for up to 72 hours visa free. You need to research this to see if you qualify for the program.

It depends on the itinerary for us. There are some cruises in the Caribbean we get off at each port and others we have stayed on the ship during one port. I personally find it tiring when we have 3 port days in a row. My husband loves/needs to get off the ship at each port where I could stay on the ship. That being said said it can quickly up doing a shore excursion at each port. We try do make 1 day a beach day, 1 snorkeling day and 1 quiet walk around the port or stay on the ship day. Now RC is doing 4 ports on some of my 7 day Caribbean cruises. Not sure how I feel about that as I think I’ll miss the sea days! I think we will plan on staying on the ship in 1-2 ports to enjoy the ship without the crowds.

Until I realized the system, I was irritated too as we pay for 2-3 cabins for each cruise. However, you need to think of it as airline points and not hotel points. I know with hotels each room gives us points on our master account. However with cruising, same as airlines, each person accumulates points.