Zenra

They seem to have just re-done part of the website (again). At least, the login system and planner navigation from what I could see.

This past week, my friends and I were trying to book some things for our upcoming Mariner cruise and ran into the same issue. A couple of us were able to check out but one couldn't book anything until today because of the same issue you mentioned. I imagine it's related to the site updates, which is unfortunate.

The saving grace here is your app shows the cart still, so it's easier to recover everything in the event you forgot something you were going to book!

I could see it being a thing on the upper pool deck where the smoke would go up, not necessarily in the middle of the crowded pool area itself where, inevitably, someones cigarette butt would make it into the pool and cause a whole slew of things (probably).

I imagine part of the designation area selection is to keep the things that are on fire/have ash, away from as many flammable objects as possible. Like towels, etc. Which is why smoking is banned on balconies in the first place RE: Star Princess. Though I suppose there's carpet in the smoking area of the casinos, so there's that.

This is just a guess but, do they have the 3 set seating times on your August sailing?

I know it was mentioned that RC might move to 3 set dining times (+ MTD?) so I figure it being 30 mins earlier (5 PM vs 5:30 PM) was to make room for the additional seating around 6:45 PM or so.

20 hours ago, ZBrady said:

As funny as it is, seems like a typical Cruise Planner misfire where something went live before intended, since there don't seem to be any discounts applied.

Across my bookings, the Chops + Your Choice (with gratuity included) is *slightly* cheaper than individually booking Chops and the most expensive option.

My guess is once it is permanent and sales are applied it will be an attractive alternative and/or a replacement for the 3-night plan.

This is my assumption as well.

Any combo of Chops + a specialty booked individually on my upcoming Mariner trip is cheaper than the "Chops + Your Choice" deal. Even if you look at them "full price" they're either about the same or like $4 cheaper in the case of Izumi (because of the $15 cover charge they add if you do Hibachi).

Another thought is they're definitely using it as a stepping stone to get people to get the UDP since the price difference is roughly the same as doing 1 more specialty dinner. Why have 2 when you can have "Unlimited"? At least that's the logic I'd use to get it if I were to do so.

Galveston is my home port (40ish min drive from my house) but I've only sailed Voyager and Quantum (from Seattle) class so far so I'm not too picky since I like variety.

Oasis class is still on my list, perhaps Harmony before it crosses (might do Utopia in Sept. but waiting on the SO to check his PTO). Even my upcoming cruise next weekend is on another Voyager but it's Mariner this time so, excited to see how it differs from Voyager itself.

All that to say I'm not picky since I've not been on many RC ships yet haha.

Like Ashley said, the "casino year" has that Apr. 1 - Mar. 31 span.

When March 31st rolls around each year, your point balance zeros out, but you keep the previous years status. So at 12k points you earned Prime "last year" which you will keep until March 31st of 2025 even with your current balance being at 0. If you want to maintain Prime status for after Match 31st of 2025, you would need to earn at least 2500 points again before March 31st of 2025.

With regards to the offers, you should still get some decent offers around the fleet - especially if you don't mind interior rooms. Like today you should get your annual reward certificate per the offer page which is good for up to a 7 night cruise with some exclusions.

• PRIME (13,999-7,600 TC) - APRIL 17TH, PM

Given that you got 12k points in a single cruise, I wouldn't be surprised if you got Signature (25k points) between your two upcoming cruises haha.

Regardless, hope this helps! Best of luck!

Would recommend taking the shuttle and getting to it early (there was a massive line.)

That being said - when I was in Sitka (off Ovation) back in September, we did the Zodiac Adventure + Fin Island Lodge lunch, so I didn't get to go into the town proper or explore much since it took most of the day. The sights and food on that excursion were awesome though! Probably my favorite part of that cruise since we ended up skipping the glacier before Juneau for a medical emergency.

I can't speak to specific areas (if you're walking the whole time) but I spent a day in Vancouver on the return from an Alaska cruise in 2016 and we didn't have any issues. Lot's of people out and about during the day.

Worth mentioning - there's a sky train that goes around parts of the city (including right near the cruise port), so you might want to look into that and see if you want to save some steps since you'll be walking around all day. I don't recall it being expensive per person, but that was also 7 years ago.

Also I would recommend taking a look at the Granville Island Market if you go that way (we got there via a bus tour) it's pretty neat and the food was decent.

Next for me: Mariner on May 18th.

Working on convincing the SO to do another in September but we'll see.

Just wanted to add this here in case anyone else found themselves on this thread. You asked about the annual renewal not being received yet. I'm guessing by now you've seen the list on the CR offer page but here's a notice in regards to the annual renewal rewards:

Quote

CLUB ROYALE ANNUAL TIER RENEWAL

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AS WE RECONCILE YOUR QUALIFYING TIER CREDITS EARNED BETWEEN 04/01/23 - 03/31/24. THE 2024-2025 ANNUAL CRUISE TIER BENEFIT WILL BE AVAILABLE UPON RECEIPT OF YOUR TIER CONFIRMATION EMAIL, WHICH WILL TENTATIVELY DEPLOY IN EST AS FOLLOWS:
 

• MASTERS - APRIL 16TH, AM
• SIGNATURE - APRIL 16TH, PM
• PRIME (24,999-14,000 TC) - APRIL 17TH, AM
• PRIME (13,999-7,600 TC) - APRIL 17TH, PM
• PRIME (7,599-5,100 TC) - APRIL 18TH, AM
• PRIME (5,099-3,800 TC) - APRIL 18TH, PM
• PRIME (3,799-3,000 TC) - APRIL 19TH, AM
• PRIME (2,999-2,500 TC) - APRIL 19TH, PM

Hope this helps someone!