mathbees

We did an aquatheater last summer. Yes, we felt a little awkward, at times, with some of the bourgeois perks. One example: we went to the Izumi Hibachi (like a Benihana). When they served water, everyone else at the table got tap water, but they made a big deal about giving us bottled water. Also, the daily (hourly?) gifts the genie gave us was way over the top: chocolate covered strawberries, milk shakes, etc. Once the genie found out which drinks we liked, what snacks, etc. we were constantly finding them in our room. If we do a star class again, we will definitely curtail some of the benefits. We're simple people who like to be spoiled just a little...

I'll even have a drink on RC, er, um, I mean to them... ?

Fully agree with you on all points! My wife will tell you I was shaking as I made the purchase.

While this is true that it would likely give them the ability to rescind this, the question they would have to answer is whether or not it is worth the good vs bad PR. Assuming an average loss of $36 ($54 - 18), and picking a wild number, say 100,000 days purchased at this price, that's only $3.6 Million they would lose. While this sounds like a lot, consider that if they are in a situation where they give $200 OBC to all passengers during a cruise for issues (weather, mechanical, etc) on a ship with 5,000 passengers, that's $1 Million. If they give a 50% voucher off a future cruise (which does happen occasionally), that's in the same ballpark as the drink package snafu (again, assuming my 100,000 number is anywhere near correct). If we assume the average was a 7 day cruise, that would mean more than 14,000 passengers got that rate. Again, I have no idea if this is correct and I could be off by a factor of 10 or 100! But it makes for a reasonable assumption, to me, anyway. Bottom line, there is likely an accountant who's very busy with a spreadsheet this morning. I'd even be happy if they came back and split the difference... say gave it to us at $30/day instead of $18. My wife and I aren't big drinkers and we're going on a 3 day/4 day B2B. We were only considering the drink package for the 4 day because we have relatives joining us for that one. I was able to snag the $18 for both, though, because it was well worth it. And since we could easily drink 2 per day, $18/day is very reasonable. At $30/day, throw in a coffee or two and we're still in the right ball park. At $54/day, that's 5ish alcohol drinks and that's a lot for us.

Hannah Johnson Definitely go and read @WAAAYTOOO and the other posts. Truly valuable info there.

I'll add my full two cents after July 1 - when I'm suffering the PCD (usurped the Post Cruise Depression phrase from @cruiselife). So far, though, the genie has been excellent (pre-cruise communications and specialty restaurant reservations). I was shocked when I got the email from the genie with reservations already booked and just needing to be confirmed... especially when the proposed schedule looked almost like the one I was going to send her! And, thanks again to @WAAAYTOOO! I had no idea the upcharges were included! I'm glad I just read through your post above. My family has been clamoring for the lobster and I've been telling them to watch the charges... It'll be a great surprise for them. I'm sure you've mentioned it before but it didn't have any meaning until I had the menus in front of me with the upcharges listed.

Yup. It's a 12 step... 12 steps from shore to ship across the gangway.

I even got a new GoPro... so there should be video!

We are now 14 days from our cruise, and 7 days from our vacation (we're doing a week in Orlando before heading to the Oasis). It's going to to be a super busy week as I wrap up work and get ready for the cruise. So, in case I don't have time later, I wanted to say thanks to @Matt, @WAAAYTOOOand all the rest of you on this board, especially since many that I want to thank are going to be on the group cruise. Your insight and recommendations have been awesome. My cruise came together faster and better than I expected and this board is largely responsible. Keep up the awesome work! Can't believe it's finally here. I think booking 18 months out is great for getting exactly what you want but is terrible for the anticipation... Those of you who have the luxury of multiple cruises per year make me jealous... Maybe some day soon I'll be in those ranks.

I'll add my two cents, although I think everything's been said about the value add of TAs. I can't say enough good about Michelle Cunningham. I switched my upcoming cruise on Oasis (3 weeks from today!!) to her immediately after booking (at WaaayTooo and other's recommendations). Michelle has been excellent, even saving me a significant amount from my initial cost on my already too expensive suite. I'm probably the worst customer for a TA because I do all the research myself (I can't tell if my family likes that I spend hours doing this or not...) and usually know exactly what I want. So I take away that fun for the TA ?. I will add, though, that whether you are a detail person like me or you just want someone else to handle the details, I think the TA makes a lot of sense. If for no other reason then they build the rapport with the right people to make good things happen. You *might* get lucky on your own and talk to just the right person, who's having just the right day and get a special something on your own, but the TA gets that treatment all the time. And they do it on your behalf. Oh and I agree with the earlier post, too, about setting up a separate travel savings account and having money automatically moved into it each pay period. It accumulates fast, especially if you "forget" about it until you need it. I just checked mine and, yup, I've got casino money for this cruise! Yay!!

Excellent, Mary, thank you. I didn't think about doing it this way (d'oh). That may actually be the best way to go (and it means I set things up correctly, already!! Bonus!). ADK, I didn't think about doing this originally, but when I went back and tried it this morning, I got the same result as before. I had high hopes, given the number of times I've that come up as a good solution for accessing RCI's website. Oh, well. Thanks, everyone!

Anyone out there have experience travelling with children on a separate reservation? Here's the situation. There are six of us going on the Oasis on 24 June. My sister-in-law and her 2 kids are joining us (me, my wife and adult daughter) and we are in the 2 BR aquatheater. There are, of course, two reservations for the room, one with the 4 adults and one with the 2 children. I've gotten the onboard expense accounts set up for the four adults but no matter how I try, I can't get it to let me connect the 2 children's expense accounts to mine. Here's what I've done so far: 1. I set up all four adults. All three columns (Guest Information, Onboard Expense Account, Cruise Ticket Contract) now say completed. 2. I set up the children's reservations and all three columns are also completed. I chose None for the expense account, which appears to be correct, at least as I read the instructions. Neither of the other two options, Credit Card and Cash, seem correct and/or want more information than should be on the children's account. I've also tried the Cash option and still get the same results I outline below. I haven't tried inputting my credit card onto the kid's reservation, as it tries to associate it with the children's name (as if it was their card). 3. In the adult reservation I successfully linked the children's reservation. I know this was successful because they show up in the SetSail Pass now. 4. When I use the "Add and pay for guests in another reservation" link, it successfully pulls the two kids in, but does not give me a check box to actually put them on my account: Screen shot below (I didn't include the names for obvious reasons). You can see the lower two boxes under Guest have no boxes to check. I really wasn't concerned with this until I printed the SetSail and noticed that the kids are not listed under my credit card, I'm assuming because they are marked as None for the expense account. They are listed on it for boarding, though. Anyone else experience this? I'm not overly concerned, but since the oldest is 13, I wanted him to have a little responsibility and have a limit that he could spend. And to be fair, give a limit for the younger child, too. This is their first cruise and my first with younger children joining me. Any advice? Should I ask the Genie to correct this as we get closer? Thanks, in advance!

I'm sorry this happened to you. It certainly puts a "small" damper on what should be an exciting vacation. I think the right thing for them to have done is contact you directly to discuss the options instead of simply moving you without an initial explanation, since the glitch was on their end. I'm happy you were able to resolve it and I hope you have an awesome cruise anyway! They should throw in a drink package.... Lol.

You know, this is getting tiring (sorry for stating the obvious). I have my first RCI cruise this June (converting from Carnival...). I booked it more than a year ago as soon as the itineraries opened - so I've been sitting in anticipation for the past 13 months with just under 3 to go! Every time I hear about another perk being taken away or modified, it's making me question whether I will continue to set my sights on maintaining status with RCI. I had just convinced the wife that we would want to do at least the first few cruises in suites so that we could gain status quickly, but if they keep pecking away at the benefits, well, then there will be no reason to achieve status. It just seems like every month or two they do something new... add a service charge for room service, increase the service charge for room service, remove free wifi for D+ members, etc. I know they are trying to maintain a profit, and I also know a few people ruin it for everyone (sharing drink packages, for example), but enough is enough. Maybe it would be easier to stomach if they would just make a slew of changes once every two years. As a side note, I am thankful for the people on this board that keep up with these changes so they aren't a surprise when we get on board.

Oh, that is very valuable information! Thank you for sharing that. I've been reading this board on and off for more than a year now and that's the first time I remember seeing that. I will report back on my experience in Port Canaveral.

I'm a 51 year old, out of shape guy. Seeing the young media bloggers enjoying the high life on the ship does not impress me much - certainly I could never have afforded the obvious perks they are able to pay for. I do appreciate @Sabrinaklai's point of view, in that if it was geared towards media types, perhaps it was well placed. If I saw this add on TV, though, I think @JLMoran expressed my opinions better. I still think my favorite RCI ad was the one with the teenage girl who wouldn't smile on camera and sped away on the sea-do when they saw her enjoying herself. That speaks more to me as a dad and husband - let me do the best I can to give my family a great cruise. That said, if I look beyond the names and titles and look at what they are actually doing, I was intrigued by what the ship had to offer. I'm a convert from Carnival going on my first RCI cruise in June on the Oasis. Just based on the activities available on board the Oasis vs all the Carnival ships I've sailed, I'm predicting my wife and I will be complete converts and may never go back to Carnival. Not sure if I'd look at the MSC (I tend to be loyal to one company - can't afford to spread my points over too many competing companies). Also, I'm not sure what YC is? The best I can tell is it the Yacht Club on MSC? If so, it looks like it's way out of my price range. Oh, to be a young successful blogger... lol.

Thank you, Waaaytooo. This was an awesome write up and I look forward to experiencing the 2BR ATS on Oasis in June. The only complaint I have about your write up is that I want June to be here sooner! I cannot wait! Gary

How quickly do they get the suites turned over? We've got a 2BR ATS on Oasis in June. We're planning to arrive at the port around 10:30... I assumed the Genie would be taking us straight to the room, but perhaps I assume too much? I suppose we can enjoy the lounge until the Genie gets us. First time in a suite and we intend to get every bang for our buck. Lol.

That's funny... I would have thought the "sweet spot" was anyone with time, money and an inclination to cruise. Oh, well, guess at my age I'll just cruise and find a "sweet spot" on the deck to watch those Maturing Millennials with kids play. Or maybe I'll simply ignore my age and join in!

I will be on June 24, 2018... LOL Gary

My family will be on Oasis June 24-July 1, 2018

Thanks everyone, for the advice on this. I thought I'd just add a quick follow up that I was able to get the A2 suite (alas, too slow for the A1... but hopefully it'll open up...). I've booked and transferred to MEI. Thanks to Matt, WaaayTooo and everyone else. This site proves to be invaluable insight. Now I'm just counting down the days, and there are far too many to count, right now... When I'm down to days on my fingers and toes I'll likely be bursting at the seams.

And here I thought it referred to our state of mind... I know I board each cruise with an "open jaw." Lol. :D

Looks like Caribbean cruises for 2018-19 are up! I just got booked in for 24 Jun - 1 Jul 2018.

Hmm... I'm attempting some deductive reasoning while looking at the RCL booking site... There's a banner saying the current sale ends in 36:50 (currently at 9:10 Mountain/11:10 am Eastern) on March 6. Assuming the sale will end before the new itineraries are announced does indeed seem to indicate that March 8 is a likely date. Of course, it could be at or beyond that time....