SPS

Can we please stay a bit more on topic here? I'm truly wondering about his very topic and at least one full page worth of replies are birthday, retirement, & IRA/401k talk. (Sorry to vent, just frustrated) I have an Explorer cruise booked for January 29th. Given the rapidly approaching date, IF it sails, I'm sure it will be at a reduced capacity. I'm wondering if we will get booted since we we tend to "budget cruise" (interior cabin, re-pricing when the chance comes), even though we are VERY LOYAL C&A members that book early and A LOT of what we save on cruise fare to put toward CP items such as drinks, excursions, spa, & dining. I'm wondering if any of that will be observed and factored in on the Who's In/Who's Out list. The second frustration I'm having is that although a reduced capacity is almost certainly going to happen, RC is still selling cabins for this cruise of ALL types. (Interior, Virtual Balcony Interior, Promenade Interior, Ocean View, Balcony, & Suites) Why keep selling these when you know you'll have to cancel a large percentage? Wishful thinking on RC's part?

This post has been up for over an hour and there’s still no reaction from @coneyraven? ???

Congratulations! Not only have you been kicked off the ship in a foreign country, but, now you have to find a way to travel home amongst severe COVID-19 travel restrictions! (Queue the sad "you lost" tuba music from The Price Is Right)

I fairly certain that the CDC doesn't want to hear MY opinions on anything. Whatever I would write to them would have way too much ranting and obscenities! ? On a serious note, I really hope that not too many submissions come from the "anti-cruise" crowd. I'm sure you know the type. The people that always NEED to comment "This is why I would never go on a cruise" whenever a negative story about a cruise pops up.

Saw this article posted on the FB C&A page. Interview with Healthy Sail Panel member, Dr. Scott Gottlieb. https://www-foxnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.foxnews.com/travel/health-expert-cruise-ship-safer-travel-coronavirus.amp

I’ve had this same problem in the past. This is the first cruise I’ve ever been able to reprice at all, let alone twice in a month!

UPDATE!!! With the current sale going on as of today (July 9th) I called again to receive another $144 off of our cruise fare. In just under one month, we have now saved $388! Keep checking those prices! FYI: I use the price alert feature on the Shipmate app to monitor prices. It sends me an email each time the price changes (up or down).

To answer the subject line question....

Ever since this article came out, this has been a big concern for me, as well. If this is what happens, I can't help but feel like we'll be punished for taking advantage of a good deal. Our next cruise (Late January '21) continues to be available for booking and I'm starting wonder if someone that books MUCH later at a higher cost will be accommodated while loyal customers that book early, like myself, are left standing on the pier, so to speak. I certainly hope the determinations would not just be made by initial booking costs. We like to book cheaper fare so that we can spend more in other areas of the overall vacation experience. (i.e. Dining, drinks, casino, excursions, spa, onboard shops, activities, etc.)

How about a cruise that just sails to BOTH of RC’s private destinations? Maybe even multiple day stays at one Like: Miami/Sea Day/Labadee/2x sea days/Coco Cay/Coco Cay/Sea Day/Miami

Hello, All! Been a while since I've been here. Several times in the past, I've done a second "mock-booking" of my existing reservation, to see if I would come up with a lower price to no avail. With the current 2021 sale going on, I was able to see that booking an available cabin RIGHT NEXT TO MINE was $79 cheaper so I decided to call RCCL. (Not a bunch, but, hey, every bit helps!) To my surprise, not only was the basic rate $79 cheaper, but, I actually qualified for an additional discount as a resident of MICHIGAN! This has NEVER happened for me. In my experience, those discounts have usually been available for those in the home port state. At the end of the call, I had a $244 discount off my cruise fare! If not for finding this blog a few years ago, I wouldn't have known that re-pricing an existing reservation was possible.

A little of the late, great Mitch Hedberg for you........ I bought some fake plants, but, I did not pretend to water them, so they died. I was at a friend's house and he asked me if I wanted a frozen banana. I said, "No, but, I want a regular banana later, so, yeah."

Have you cruised with those other companies during a potential global pandemic?

Isn't there also a way for the one person that does cruise to get the C&A points for the person that doesn't show? I seem to recall something about that a month or so back.

Hmm, you may need to call Royal about this. I do know that a woman on one of our cruises brought her own olive oil. (She was on a very restrictive diet for health reasons.) Our waiter in the MDR kept it in a galley area for her and would bring it to the table for her each night.

The title of your post look as though you may think that this is an official RCCL website and asking for these options to be added. It is not. This is a fan site not at all affiliated with Royal Caribbean. Your comments are a bit puzzling. Each ship we've been on in the past four years has had almond and/or soy milk options and oil based dressings are a staple. As mentioned above, there's no need to suffer in silence if you have food allergies or issues. The staff is always ready and willing to accommodate. My wife is gluten intolerant and she is always appreciative of how little she has to worry about food issues.

Oh, yes there is! I end up "infected" with beer all the time!

I find this odd. Our experience with this on Freedom was completely the opposite. Each group/couple had all of the ingredients in separate containers on the table while the server/instructor gave tips on how to utilize the different ingredients to suit our tastes. He also tutored us on making some superb Margaritas and print outs of the guacamole and margarita recipes were provided after the included lunch. All in all, it was a very good experience.

Oops, somehow double posted the comment above.

Here's a tip (no pun intended). There's no need to actually take a bulky stack of $1 bills with you. Just take your larger bills into the casino and use the Cash Out/Bill Breaker machine. It's available for use even when the casino is closed.

I can't speak of the decks themselves, but, personally, I like to pick cabins AWAY from elevators and stairways just for the sake of noise intrusions that may occur. I need the extra bit of exercise anyway!

I agree with @SpeedNoodles , leave that FB group. No one needs that nonsense. I find that this site is all I need for all things Royal Caribbean. You're already paying a good bit amount of money for your vacation and whatever you want to pay above and beyond the standard gratuities is fine. There's no need to practically put yourself into debt just to tip people. Quite frankly, There's no way to verify that the people saying they've paid $50-$100 PP/PD (YIKES!) is true!

Larger ships have a bar in the Windjammer in which you can get one in the morning. Larger and smaller ships usually have a portable bar set up to provide bloody marys and mimosas at the entrance or inside the Wind Jammer. I take advantage of this often.

I have a bit of perspective on why the "not open until 11" may apply. We sailed on Vision out of SJ on January 25th. We arrived at the port just after 10 and were third in line for luggage drop off. Unfortunately, it turned out that the luggage porters were on their lunch break from 10:00 to 11:00. So we had to wait in the luggage drop off line until 11:00. I've never had this happen before and keep in mind that the porters are NOT Royal Caribbean personnel. They are union employees that work for the port. On the plus side, the check-in process in the terminal was very quick and we were on board and ordering our first drink at the Schooner Bar by 11:15.