Sailor_to_Cruiser

I just got off Symphony of the Seas last week. What a lovely ship. I was looking over my balcony one day and noticed the numbering of the life boats below. Life boat #2 has a number C6DF6, Lifeboat #4 has C6FD6, and Lifeboat #6 goes back to C6DF6. (in case you missed it, it is the reversal of DF/FD in the numbers) Is this just the OCD in me? I wonder if even the captain has noticed this discrepancy. What do you think?

The cantilevered hot tubs on Oasis aren't in the Solarium. They are just outside the doors to the Solarium so anyone can use them.

Didn't RC recently recruit a team of people to sit in their corporate headquarters and test their website development? Did they not get any takers, or did these people not know what they were doing, or did RC just not listen to them? Seems this should have been fully tested before they flipped the switch. They at least made it LOOK like they were trying to do the right thing.

Can someone please verify that the MyVegas rewards can be used in the UK as well? I have been racking up points (260k so far) in preparation for my next booking but have this fear that the UK market will be left out of this promo like so many others by RCCL.

Yes, it amounts to about £24. Odd that they quote 2 different currencies in one photo. I hadn't noticed that one. I guess I should stop complaining about it all now. After all, I'm still going on a cruise. Right? Enjoy your cruises.

This one is what my cruise planner is showing: Different prices for different people. My sailing is 21 April on Symphony. Is that yours as well?

And again: I guess they aren't counting on people tracking daily price changes as I am doing. The total amount was £116.99 at 20% off, £141.41 at 30% off, and now £161.62 at 20% off. (15 Dec 2017) This price for 7 days adds up to £116.97. (16 Dec 2017) 30% off is more than 20% off. (19 Dec 2017) 20% off is the same as 30% off. (21 Dec 2017) 20% off today is higher than than 20% off was yesterday.

And they do it again: What is the normal onboard price for 2 device VOOM? GBP £20.20 is about USD $26.95. Is this actually a discount from the onboard price?

I have been seeing the price of £16.67 for the 2 device Voom, showing 20% off onboard prices. As I started this thread, the total price went up with the daily price remaining the same. This morning I see they are giving 30% off onboard prices, but the daily price went up to £20.20 per day. There is nothing creative to their accounting practices. It just makes no sense in how they figure their prices.

I just looked at my cruise planner. The cost of VOOM 2 device is £16.71 per day. That adds up to £116.69 for a week. Doesn't it? So why does the cruise planner show it at £141.41 (odd number by itself)? Yesterday the prices were right, and I'm sure that tomorrow they will be also. This has got to be just a sanity check by RCCL. Who is insane enough to bite?

When their logo is part of your logo (avatar).

Drinks package was £48.49 (and has been since 19 June). Black Friday has hit the UK. The deluxe drink package is now £36.37. That is a 33.33% decrease. Booked it and saved almost £200 for 2. Now I have to cancel and book the deluxe + VOOM. That has just shown up on the planner and the price is £44. I'm at work right now so I'll have to wait until I get home. Hope it is still there then. I'm a happy cruiser!!!

I'm american. Only living in Scotland (North Ayrshire). I guess I'm just trying to fit in?

I just checked for my 21 April Symphony sailing and beverages are the same but VOOM 2 device package has gone up. I'm just hoping I see something appealing at the 90 day mark.

My wife, who is British by the way, believes that all servers should get tips. regardless of the quality of service provided because their wages are so poor. My feeling towards it is that if their wages are so poor and they rely on the tips, they need to work for the tips. If I get just standard service, I'll tip, but not too much. If the service is sub standard, I will not tip. If I get good, fast and efficient service, I will be very generous. If you want the tip, show me that you want it.

I live in the UK. I first got a letter explaining them adding the 3 additional sailings. A couple days later, this one came in. I do not know the difference. They both generally say the same thing. One difference I noted was that the original letter said that I could change my sail date by only paying the difference in price, with no change fees. This is not outlined clearly in the second letter (the one I posted).

This is the e-mail I received: It states the "new inaugural sailing on April 7. It is also worth noting that if I wish to change my booking to another booking, I will not pay change fees, but I WILL HAVE TO PAY THE PRICE DIFFERENCE FOR THE CRUISE. (which is about GBP £300 more per person)

The 'used-to-be-inaugural' Symphony April 21st cruise has had deluxe drink package at full price since June 19. I have been tracking daily. This amounts to £GBP 800 for the two of us. (£GBP 49.13 is equivalent to $USD 64.36 per day) That is NOT cheap and no-where in line with pricing elsewhere. I feel cheated.

A very good, open minded and non-judgmental report. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

Since I'm in the UK, and I cannot Re-Book to get better prices, I have no idea why I am tracking the price. I guess I just like to make myself mad and frustrated at what I find out. But Drink Prices???? Will we ever see another 20% off on the cruise planner?

I have been tracking the prices of Symphony of the Seas sailings since early March. Every day I have gone on the RCI web site and logged the price of a 7 night Western Med Balcony stateroom on 21 April (maiden voyage) and the same type of stateroom on the trans-Atlantic on Oct 28. I have also tracked the Ultimate drinks package (for 2) and 2 device Surf & Stream Voom. Yes, I know it's a bit of OCD, but I am intrigued by numbers. In the last week the Western Med prices have fluctuated up as much as up 6.7% on a day to down 1.5% on another day. Right now, it is up almost GBP £200.00 from the same time last week. The Trans-atlantic has gone up 11.75% over this weekend alone. If there is a Labor Day sale in the US, could it be that they are paying for this sale by raising prices in other markets that do not celebrate this holiday? Will I see the same thing over Thanksgiving? Drinks prices, as many others have been reporting, have been at full price for some time now. They were 20% off until June 19th. Then they went up 20.69% to full price (a GBP £170 increase for 2). There has been no wavering from this price since then, not even for exchange rate adjustments. GBP £800.28 which equals about USD $1032.36 or USD $73.74 pppn (GBP £57.16). VOOM Surf & Stream 2 device has been the same price since 6 June. GBP £118.53 which equals about USD $152.90 or USD $21.84 per day (GBP £16.93). (exchange rate used for this comparison is USD $1.29 / GBP. What are the prices looking like in the USA for this weekend? Hope you all have a nice Labor Day. (boy, I sure do miss it)

Kansas Cruiser - Have a safe flight home. I'm glad to hear you fared the hurricane well. Enjoy your final day off work.

When you assign the credit card to your account you are given the opportunity to let RCL change to your currency, or have them charge your card in USD and let your card company convert. It is best to let your credit card company convert it as they use banking rates, while RCL will use tourism rates (geared towards pocketing a bit themselves). I do not know what the exact difference is but I know it's better this way.

I booked Symphony maiden voyage (April 21, 2018) back in March. Since that date I have been tracking the prices daily (a bit of OCD, but just for my own curiosity). Drink prices for 2 with gratuity (16% as it is Europe) were as follows: 23 March - £675.92; 5 Apr - £659.44; 06 Jun - £634.70; 19 Jun - £800.28 (^20.69%) (it appears that they have removed any discount and the price listed is over £49 pppn) There has been no change in the price since this date, even accounting for fluctuations in currency exchange rates. I am still watching, with 275 days until sailing, I am hoping for a sale or a package with Voom added in. I just hope they have not removed all discounts for the 2018 sailings. That would not work to their benefit.

A couple weeks ago I was at about 65 k points. I started the auto spin on a Saturday, and ran out all my coins and then noticed that I had over 210 k points. I don't know what I did but it worked. I wasn't watching so I don't know how much I was winning but I did notice that my original 2 million coins had boosted to about 17 million at one point. The points seem to be tied to how much you are betting on each spin. Now to book a cruise to cash in for OBC.