Sailor_to_Cruiser

That is a great review for me. Thanks. Vision of the Seas doesn't seem to have many things said about her on these forums. I'll give my review here when I am done with the cruise. Stay Tuned.

Here is the Sabor guacamole recipe: 1/2 cup red onion chopped 2 TBSP jalapeno chopped 1/4 TSP ground cumin 2 avocados mashed 1 TSP salt 1/2 lime squeezed 1/2 lemon squeezed 3/4 cup cilantro chopped 1/3 cup tomatoes chopped --combine all ingredients and enjoy! Courtesy of Matt's blogpost at http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/podcast/episode-135-allure-of-the-seas-group-cruise-live-review

Since I booked this cruise, I have checked daily in hopes that drink packages or internet will go on sale. Well, this morning, what a Christmas sale they have!!! The price actually went up - again. Cruise is in 45 days. Should I wait to see if the price goes down, or should I just book now to avoid the possibility of the price going up even more because of the USD/GBP exchange rate fluctuations? What do you all think?

I had sent an e-mail to RCI after my last cruise and it took almost a month for a reply. It wasn't a complaint e-mail so I wasn't really looking for any reply. I guess they are just busy right now. Previously I had gotten replies within 2 weeks.

Unless you are in the UK, then they charge 2-3% extra to use a credit card (and 1% to use a debit card). Really beginning to rethink my decision to settle in the UK after I retired from the US military 15 years ago. (I'm a transplanted american citizen) Seems they are always trying to get more from the customer with little returned. Rant over.

Special Deals??????? I have been watching daily (even Black Friday and Cyber Monday). Not a single deal has been offered in regards to drinks packages. VOOM has been 30% off from the day I booked. I'm wondering if I will see any discounted packages offered for this cruise. I'm starting to think I made a mistake with this booking, hoping that opportunities to save some money would arise. Your thoughts?

Hope I'm not too late with this, I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I got this on Oasis during the consecutive cruiser meeting in order to book the shows for week 2. I have never seen it available anywhere else. I hope it helps to give an idea. I wouldn't hold it as gospel though. Enjoy your cruise. Show Times.pdf

I just noticed that I have no record of a booking reference for my Emirates flights to Dubai. This is needed to add to the phone app and to select seats onboard the plane. I phoned my TA (Barrhead Travel) and they said it should be on the paperwork but it has been left off. Royal Caribbean can give it to me since the flights were package booked through them. "here's the number to call them". Boy, I wish MEI Travel worked in the UK.

Being always vigilant, I check daily to see if the on board amenities (Voom, Drinks) are going to go on sale for my cruise. I have placed these things in my shopping cart on the Cruise Planner yet haven't yet purchased them, waiting on a sale to show up. Imagine my surprise when I logged on this morning and it said "price updated". I have kept screen shots of the prices as I go just for my own tracking purposes (i'm a numbers and logging geek). Here is the result: Deluxe Drinks went from 735.96 total to 726.88 total. A savings of £9.08 GBP Voom Surf&Stream 2 devices went from 124.68 to 123.14. A savings of £1.34 GBP. I can only assume this price difference is due to the GBP/USD exchange rate. This savings totaled up to about 1 lava flow on board. Needless to say, I have not purchased these yet.

Having heard so much from Matt about all these sales on cruise extras lately, I have been watching my cruise planner closely, with much disappointment I must admit since none of these discounts seem to apply to my cruise. Voom was listed as only 1 device plan. I could get it x2 for a total of £101.94 GBP. Drinks are listed as £44.55 GBP pppd and no discount listed. This morning I see Voom on the planner has a price update: 1 device is now showing £135.96 GBP. Nothing said it was on sale before. Now they are showing 2, 3, 4, and 5 device plans so I checked the 2 device plan. This has come in as 30% off at £124.68 GBP. This isnt shown on the front banner, you have to actually put it in your cart to see the 30% off. So, 2 device plan is actually cheaper than the new 1 device plan. go figure. Still no deals on drinks (the most important part of any cruise) I'll keep you posted on any changes I see.

Has your cruise completed yet? If so, can you give some reviews of your experiences? I'm sailing on her in February around the Arabian Sea and interested in what I can expect of the ship itself. Thanks in advance.

When booking this cruise, as I sat with a TA, I asked about the C&A discount as well as a military discount. She phoned RCI directly and the response was that 1) The C&A discount doesn't apply on the BOGO fare that I got. The TA attempted to argue my case by saying that my loyalty doesn't count for anything then as anyone without C&A will get the same rate as I get. Where is the gratitude for being a loyal Royal customer? 2) The military discount is not combinable with the BOGO rate. Basically, 2 chances to discount my cruise fare that were both not honored by Royal Caribbean. It is a good thing they are a good cruise line because their LOYALTY programs amount to nothing.

No Deluxe discount for me, nor Voom. Voom is only showing 1 device packages surf+stream. 20% off replenish package. This all for February 2017 Arabian Gulf on Vision of the Seas.

Booked the Vision for 6 February. To my surprise - I was doing the double digit dance as soon as I booked. I havent seen anything about Vision nor Arabian Gulf on these boards. Has anyone gone with either? Anything to review for me? Thanks In Advance Bob

This is what I got on my last Gold cruise on Oasis in September: Gold Member Benefits.pdf

I'd check with my TA about that. Every cruise from UK to Europe of 7 days or more are listing free Deluxe drink package. This is something that seems to have just started this summer. The TransAtlantic cruises are not listing it, nor the 3/4 day quick trips from Southampton.

European cruises booked in the UK are all including the Deluxe drink package as a norm. I guess its because the Brits would rather go to an all-inclusive resort in the Canary Islands or Spanish Costas than on a cruise. They want their alcohol included in the price. If booked from the US, I do not think they include the drink package.

UK cruises, at least booked in the UK are giving free deluxe drink package included. No need for the cards.

Been there, done that too. B) B)

I did fall asleep and my wife was embarrassed by my snoring. The staff just said that it is actually a compliment to them.

The military discount is from the US market. The UK is not as friendly to their veterans as the US is.

I have contacted RCCL directly about a military discount. Their criteria is: "10% military discount on direct bookings, meaning when you booking directly with us through our call centre or online." I have previously booked while onboard and was told that that was not a direct booking. Also, once I transfer that booking to a TA (as I'm told I must do within 60 days) no further benefits can be granted by RCCL. (and UK TAs are not very loose with the purse strings). I'm still working this system to see if I can get it to work for me.

Billy; I had thought of having a US person book it for me as a gift, with me paying for it. Just to see if it would work that way. re:MEI - I heard Matt mention on a 'scope about Annie (from UK) going through MEI for something. I guess Matt has addressed that in a reply as it must be referring to a group cruise. I repeat your sentiment : "BLAST!" Thanks for the help.

I have been researching my future cruise and have come across some REALLY interesting information that is otherwise hidden. I am an American that has been living in the UK for the last 15 years. I am retired US Navy as well. I have been sailing on Royal Caribbean for some time and have acquired the C&A level of Emerald. Through my time in the UK I have noticed a lot of the “perks†that I was used to being American or a service member were non-existent. Here is just another one: I stumbled across the US version of the Royal Caribbean web site so I decided to do some research. I looked for a cruise as far out as I could find, Southern Caribbean for 2 people. The result was 13 April, 2018, 9 nights Southern Caribbean cruise on Navigator of the seas in a Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony (D3 #6546). I went through the entire booking process up to the check-out page and stopped. I stored this information. I next went to the Royal Caribbean International web site and did the same from there. I selected the exact same cruise and cabin with the only exception being that I applied my C&A discount to this booking. I once again went as far as the check-out page and stopped. I once again stored this information. My results: Royal Caribbean International gave me a price of GBP£ 2,448.00 after applying the C&A discount (which amounted to only about 3-4%). At current exchange rates, that makes this cruise in the region of USD$ 3,200.00. The result of the US site search gave me a price of USD$ 2,376.00. Am I missing something here? Am I paying extra because I live in the UK? I have to add airfare to this as well which can cost almost that much again. Royal Caribbean International doesn’t honour any military discounts either. For the UK customers of Royal Caribbean International, beware of this price difference and discuss it with your TA, or whoever might help to get around it. This can’t be right.

One thing I have noticed, having taken both Caribbean cruises and European cruises: A Caribbean cruise is a "Do Things" type of cruise, and an European cruise is a "See Things" type of cruise. If you are interested in seeing castles, palaces and history you will be in your glory. If you want to Scuba, Snorkel or just lounge on a beach, it is not for you.