Bridgetbien

Going on a 3 day cruise on Allure. The UDP says it's good for dinners and then lunch on sea days. We don't technically have sea days ( Coco Cay, Nassau). Can I use it on embarkation lunch (like Giovannis) and Nassau day lunch (for Sabor)? Or is it really just for dinners? 

Thanks!

I'm sure this has been discussed, but I am SHOCKED at the prices on Royal now. We did a weekend cruise on Freedom last Nov. It was great. We looked into another weekend Nov 2024 cruise and couldn't believe the prices for Allure or Liberty. We worked with our travel agent to find the best weekend deal she could get us (which saved us over $500 booking through her compared to the website-use a TA!!!) because luckily we could be flexible about which weekend/which ship. Then I looked at excursions and things-$400 for a beach bed on Coco Cay?! We paid $169 last year! I know cruising is still cheaper for us than even just going to florida for a long weekend once you add in entertainment, transpo, food, drinks, etc. However, it was a wake up call to see the prices of things now. Whew. 

Back from freedom! All my fears and anxiety were for nothing. The cruise was mostly great, staff is amazing, guests were nice! 
 

I do have to say, I was shocked at people smoking (and smoking weed) on the balconies. My husband and I tried to eat breakfast out there every morning but were overwhelmed by the smoke/weed smell. It was a bummer. I know a three day cruise is more party but come on. We never alerted staff because we couldn’t pinpoint where it was from. Is it always like this? 

We made it! It’s just a super fast line. There are signs everywhere. From the taxi drop off to being on ship was 6 minutes. We never stopped moving! 

10 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

On my last cruise, we just got waived through to the waiting area once they saw we had already done our check-in stuff.

I wonder if this is formalizing that. If you've done everything already, Express just means they can waive you right on through and don't have to funnel you to an agent.

We did do everything on the app including photos and we're travelling with our passports.

Yes, Freedom out of Miami tomorrow (Nov 3).

It wasn't even an option. We completed the Health form and then the app showed confetti and balloons and that first screen popped up. 

Nope! We're in a regular balcony. I didn't buy anything extra except the Deluxe Drink Package.  I'm gold and my husband isn't any tier for loyalty. 

yes! I attached the notification and the set sail pass

Hello! 

We leave tomorrow for our cruise and when I went to check the app, I got notification that we have Express Boarding and my setsail pass turned purple. 

Anything express I'm into, so I'm curious what it means/anyone else experienced it before? 

Thanks! 

39 minutes ago, Xaa said:

Awesome lead off expecting hurricane season snark from a blog full of cruisers also sailing during this time of year!

On the chairs, I think your expectation should be similar to your previous 9 cruises.  Chair hogs will be out expressing their entitlement by sequestering chairs for their possible future return.  If you can't get chairs exactly where you want, look at your second choice, then your third and so on.  No idea on if PDCC will be cancelled but I suspect not.  It absolutely won't rain the "entire time".  "So Windy" and "Too Rocky" are relative so I'll shoot you a maybe on those.

How do I go with the flow?  I use the coping skills I learned as a wee lad.  Generally I don't focus on the  few negatives in my view, but instead turn around and look at the vast number of positives.

Relax @Bridgetbien, the purpose is to unwind, not to wind yourself up tighter.  Enjoy your cruise.

Maybe I need to stay off royal Caribbean reddit where they were bashing the hurricane season cruisers. 

My husband and I are doing a short weekend cruise next weekend. Due to PTO and babysitters, it was the only time we could get away. So I don't need to hear "whyd you book during hurricane season?!" snark. 

Although this is our 10th cruise, I get so anxious leading up to it! Will we get chairs on the deck? What will we do if we cant? Will CoCo Cay be cancelled?? Will it rain the entire time? Will it be so windy the boat will be too rocky?? 

How do you go with the flow? Things happen, I know that, and in the end we're still on a cruise (with the drink package!). But how do you pivot when your plans change and still enjoy the vacation?

13 hours ago, PRMLVM said:

Oh sure!  I'm not worried; I was just chiming in that I'm having the same results as the OP.  I'd just think that with the cruise being about 2 weeks out, the drinks menus would be there (since they don't change sailing to sailing).  I do appreciate the tricks and quirks everyone here points out!  Again, just "reinforcing"(?) the OP's findings.

Thanks! I'm glad I'm not the only one. It works if I look at different sailings, so just weird I guess!

We sail out Nov 3. The drink menu for the bars used to be in the app but they’ve disappeared. Anyone else not able to see the drink menus anymore? Are they all being updated?

How is daylight savings handled on a cruise? I'm on a 3 day Freedom sailing out of Miami and will be on the ship during the "fall back" of daylight savings. Is it observed or will it "reset" when we get to Miami? 

-Bridget 

Hello! 

I can't seem to find the answer anywhere. If breakfast in the main dining is 8:00-9:30, could I be seated right at 9:25? Or do you have to be done by 9:30? 

The reason I ask is that we have a day of Brunch (8:30-12), and we were curious if we show up at 11:55 will we be turned away, or is that the last seating time? 

Thanks! 

It was considered a glitch. It was just cancelled. 

I booked a two person inside room for a May 2018 cruise. I booked online through the Royal Caribbean website and got a very very good deal. I got an email that there was a problem with this booking and they are going to cancel it if I do not call them. Is it legal for them to change the price (increase) after booking? It wasn't through a third party website, it was their direct website. 

Thanks everyone! I did research beforehand and it seemed to be what I wanted-quick weekend away with food, drinks, and beaches. We just want to relax sans phones for a few days.

Everyone being grumpy about it made me worried!

Hi! I'm going on Majesty of the Seas on April 29, 2016. I'm worried after reading all the reviews that it's not a good cruise....everyone seems to be complaining about the food, how old the ship is, etc. It's my boyfriend's first cruise and I want to make sure it's a good one. Any insight?