AnnetteJackson

Welcome! You picked a great ship to start your Royal Journey with!

Shannon, I would love to talk with you on this and help you understand what we can and cant help you with at this time. Because I do not know exactly what you have asked, email me at annette@mei-travel.com or give me a call at 919 605 6282 and I can make sure you have everything you need to pre plan. @Shannon

Hey.. I am from Cary and lived there until 5 years ago... know Knightdale well. I keep asking, they keep saying maybe one day - but who knows.

Would be nice... but I assume Royal like for EVERYONE to have to work for the cruise bookings! Call center has to do the same thing.. sailing by sailing

HAHA... maybe because they prefer to sell tires and large amounts of food over travel plans 🙂 Not sure to be honest, but a really odd plan in my opinion. Thanks for the shout out for MEI and Stephanie

From the TA perspective on this... We do get copied on SOME of the emails for the RoyalUp program, but not always. I have been in meetings with Royal about this very topic as we do not always get them. At Mei-Travel if we get them we contact the clients to let them know, but again we dont always get them. It is supposed to be tied to your C and A account and emailed to you that way or if you have an email on file for the bookings you would get notified, but from my experience with @Matt bookings - there are times he does not get emails and times I do not get them and I am willing to bet there are some emails that neither of us get. Tried to fix this many times, but Royal IT is "looking into this". But I can say 100% that Costco is not allowing those booked with them to participate in the RoyalUp Program. This happened a couple of months back.

You should stop by Dust off Brewing CO - look for the bald bar tender with a beard - that is my son. Tell Jonathan that his mom and MATT sent you 🙂

On this one.... the ship that sails out of Charleston is one of Carnivals smaller ships. There are plans in the next two years to expand the port area in this location but not sure what size ship would be able to come to this port. BUT i am always asking this at sales meetings because I love a driveable port! Allows you to cruise more often. And Rock Hill..... My son lives there! I am there a few times a year. great place you are at !

Yes, the casino rate is not ombineable with a group rate.... but we will still give you the others options even if you book at RCCL Blog Group cruise with MEI-Travel. We don;t want anyone to be left out from the fun!

Feel free to email me and I can let you know exactly what we have left. we do hold certain cabins so it could depend on what is booked right now as to what we have at group rate. Happy to help and work with your MEI Agent. annette@mei-travel.com

Hey - as I sit at SeaTac right now! Group cruises - I wish we could post all the group events when we start out the gate, but because the numbers in the group change, we cannot lock in some of our items with the ship until after final payment. Matt did give a link to group events as an example, but we try to have a meet up each day. We never want to force anyone to eat dinner at a certain time so we try to avoid meal times. We use an app for those that are on wifi so that we can give you changes and reminders about group events, but for those that are not on wifi, I will make sure you have a printed schedule as well as notecards along the cruise so you have reminders of items and locations. Groups - the people are the best! Excursions - I always say book what you want to do just in case. Make sure you can cancel if you decided to do a group excursion with us - but always your choice. For an example, we have not announced the Group Shore Excursion for NYE on Freedom yet. It can take several weeks after everyone makes final to lock some of the events in place.... but trust me... we try to make it fun for everyone!

Or you could do the Matt method.... He typically checks with me to see what price is he is booked at or will send me what next cruise is offering so I can check with what he is booked at. Then he knows if he needs to book on board or not. Check with the agent you are working with or I can assign you to an agent prior to your sailing - and then work with them to make sure you are getting the most bang for your buck!

Also MEI-Travel - we tend to send you refundable prices and not non refundable... as those will be lower but while all of us think we will cruise no matter what... you never know

There are 2 main pier 66 - NCL and some Princess port closer to the market. Royal and Celebrity pier 91 are further away and sometimes Princess will go to this port as well.

I have said this several different threads on this board, but I would say give one a try with 1 cruise to see what you think. BUT I always recommend that you treat this like you would finding a contractor to work on your house. Get on the phone and ask the agent what they do for their clients, what else they mat be able to provide, etc. This is hopefully the start of a relationship with a person that can handle all your vacation needs so you can relax and just vacation. Make sure to ask about price reductions are they done automatically or do you have to let them know. Ask if there are fees with the agency as some do charge a fee just to quote and book for you. Make sure you feel comfortable with the agent you are working with.