marti314

Its pretty smart for RCL to include these "cheaper" food options in the package.  Filling up on burger / chicken wings / fries is much better than the higher priced tenderloin/seabass/shortribs etc....

Without insurance you will not likely get anywhere with RCCL.  

On all 3 of my upcoming cruises the 4 and 5 night packages are no longer offered.  Based on comments from others these might be gone for good?

Ill give my PERSONAL experience on the refreshment package and any package. 

If you purchase a package your mind immediately starts to decide "How many drinks at X.XX amount per drink do i need to drink to make it worth it".  This seems to become a justification vs a situation where you really WANT another drink.  For example on some ships now there is only ONE size specialty coffee which means you cant buy the LARGE one anymore to get more of your money worth.  I personally found myself going back for a coffee / smoothie just to try to hit some magical number more than really WANTING or Craving another drink.  

People will say "Yes but waters are 3.00 each and you can collect waters for the ports".  Those 5 cent bottles of water are just pure profit for the cruise line and they know that we all feel like we are getting a deal if we drink 5 per day and calculate that to 15.00 worth of water when really its .25 cents worth.

The real question is, if you do not have the package will you spend 18 a day on non alcoholic drinks.  In my case i never took the soda cup out of its plastic and i can honestly say I would have saved considerably not buying the package because i would never have paid for the things I ended up getting just to "justify the purchase of the package"

12 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

For ships without a Freestyle machine, you just use your SeaPass card at any place that serves drinks.  You don't even need the cup as the soda package will be tied to your SeaPass card.

I will note however, the number of different sodas the bars have vs the freestyle machine is FAR less.  Bars have the typical Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, GInger Ale, while freestyle machines have at least 15 choices before all the flavors.  Makes you wonder why it has taken so long to get those machines "engineered in" when there are usually only 4 per ship.

12 hours ago, FManke said:

Anybody had a MDR tablemate so obnoxious that you asked to be moved to another table? (Family doesn't count! )

Is that even an option with Tradition Dining?

Just curious. 

I had some teenage girls at my table (i was 36 at the time).  They were fine to talk to until they decided to bring these completely wasted guys they met on the boat to dinner with them and proceed to invite them to sit at the table with us.  We had a 6 top but only 4 assigned to the table so they figured they could just invite anyone.  These guys were so obnoxious and turned the girls into almost the same as them. These guys shows up in tank tops and swim trunks so i quietly notified the head waiter.  Nothing was done the first night so when they showed up again the second night i was pretty firm with the head waiter asking to move me or move them.  

By the third night the girls and guys didnt show up anymore but it appears there is so much opposition to saying anything controversial that they were OK ruining my trip to make sure these 20 somethings werent inconvenienced.  

The answer is YES it does happen, especially with the drink packages nowadays.  

1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Smoking is tyically on the port side - I always book starboard (for weirder reasons than that, unfortunately, but it's a bonus).

Smoking isnt allowed on any balcony no matter what side of the ship. Smoking is only allowed in designated areas, typically on the pool deck.

1 minute ago, FionaMG said:

We will be new diamonds on our next cruise. I don't drink alcohol at all, ever. I was wondering if mixer juices would count as soda or if you can really only get things like Coke and Sprite? Also, is the soda fountain soda or in cans?

Thanks a lot. 

They seem to stick to the diamond menu pretty closely however I am guessing since a VODKA OJ or Cranberry vodka is 90% cranberry juice asking them to leave out the vodka should not be an issue and its in their financial interest as well.

You will likely get fountain soda unless you specifically ask for a can in which case they will just ring that up as your diamond drink.

1 minute ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

I’ve never tied my wife to mine besides booking her with me in my room and she is at my level when she would be a level lower. 

Your travel agent may have done it for you.

19 hours ago, Matt said:

If you "level up" during your cruise, the change takes effect on your next sailing.

If your next sailing is more than 2 weeks after the end of the cruise you level up on.  Points and tier status updates take about 2 weeks after a cruise ends to reflect in your C&A Account.

2 hours ago, Ogalthorpe Haywood said:

Spouses are recognized as the higher spouses status, so if that’s the case for one of the people you should be good 

Only if you call in and specifically tie your spouse to your status.  If you just show up on the ship and expect your spouses seapass to reflect your status you will have a challenging time if they are checking seapass cards at the diamond lounge.

4 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Winning is subjective. I always assumed I’d learn how to sleep well in hotel beds. But even nine years in and about a thousand nights I still haven’t figured it out. 

It just means I can meet bonus spend thresholds faster with business expenses. On my last Amex bonus I made it in one transaction buying Syndicated grocery data. 

How did this thread become about who has the travels the most / has the most nights / best credit card for travel?!?!?

3 minutes ago, fonemanbob said:

Get the deluxe package for yourself.   Get your beverage walk away.  Then come back and get the wife`s beverage.  There is more than 1 way to skin a cat.

Why not just walk into the onboard shops and use the 5 finger discount at the same time?  Stealing is stealing and to promote it on a message board is publicly saying "I dont follow rules, your welcome to everyone else who gets to suffer because of me"

8 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

@twangster this is bringing up awful memories of our dealings with Allianz last August.  We had to cancel our Europe trip 6 days in.  We decided there was no way we'd cancel just to cancel so we bought the classic plan.  Then my 15 year old attempted suicide while we were gone.  Allianz made every step difficult along the way and finally denied everything.  We lost over 10000.  We could have hired an attorney and tried to submit claims that were worded differently but in the end we just couldn't put that much effort in.  And this is what happens.  The insurance companies make you file and refile in hopes you give up every step of the way.  And you are organized...God help the unorganized traveler with no screenshots or documentation.  I understand... They are a business and their purpose is to make money but somewhere customer satisfaction and PR has to play a role in it 

   We have just bought cancel for any reason coverage through Allianz for our Cuba trip in 65 days.  If Havana gets canceleled as a port, I'm sure majesty will sail anyway and since the rest of the trip involves hotel rooms and we would never be able to book a cruise and airfare for similar price, we will probably just take wherever Royal decides to go and not even try the cancel insurance.  

   I know I would never be able to always fly and arrive 24 hrs before...I'm lucky I can do the night before on Saturday cruises.  Ugh.  The whole thing stresses me out.  

   I'm so sorry that this has been such an awful process and I hope you have better luck with the appeal.  Jane

I realize Allianz is a large bank also but, these guys are just plain greedy after reading all of this so far.

Fourth-quarter net profit was 1.70 billion euros ($1.92 billion) compared with EUR1.43 billion a year earlier, the company said Friday.

Isnt this the exact same as when you see a billboard for a new subdivision of homes that says HOMES FROM THE 210,000s as an example.  You go ask about it and the 1 house that was 214,000 was sold years ago and now they are only 300,000+.

Why is this a scam?  

Oasis almost to her new home for awhile.....

These things in terminal A were amazing!  Literally from the time we walked (dinged) off the ship until we were in the completely unorganized pickoff/dropoff area was < 5 minutes.  They had so many of these machines that there was no wait and they were very efficient.  They recommend you have your passport out and ready in case it doesnt recognize you but in my case being 6'9" i just slouched a little bit so it would pick up my face and off i went.

1 minute ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Yes.  It's the July 4th Anthem RCBlog Group cruise.

That seems right then, the 7 nights on Oasis Class and Quantum are going for 199 now.

13 minutes ago, analp38 said:

What drinks can I bring on ship first day? Wine and water? or has to be one or the other?

TIA

MAX two bottles of 750ML wine and Anything else non alcoholic with the limit being 12 bottles or cans less than 17 oz each. 

You could bring YOOHOO if you wanted, SUNNY D, That Pink Milk Stuff, possibilities are endless!

12 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I have the "new" menu posted on my Anthem blog from last March if you want to have a look.  They converted to that menu just after they ended their affiliation with Michael Schwatrz.  You can just go in and have food.  No need to ask for a special menu.  Last time we were there, they had them lying on each table.

It's been sitting at $261 (or something high like that) since after Black Friday.  Doesn't matter for us.  We are planning to beg our way into CK for this one 

is that the 9 night bermuda sailing?

7 minutes ago, Mathew Jones said:

I do not have any included special discounts.  This is my first time cruising with RCCL and I am not using a voucher.  The lady specifically said that because of the rate that I booked at I cannot redeem the OBC voucher.  I may try again and see if I get the same answer.

As for using the TA, they are not the most receptive or attentive bunch.  I would not rely in them to actually do anything about it.  There prices are great but  the customer service is less than desired.

dont call, just follow the instructions on redemption via email, never once have I had a problem doing that.

You can always do it right on the cruise planner site and not need to call your travel agent.   

Yea and if we hand money directly to the people we interface with we are leaving a lot of behind the scenes folks out  soooooooooooooo cant win.

6 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I always prepay grats and once they're done, I forget about them.  I assume they're going to good people doing very hard work for very little money.  Even though we haven't set food in a MDR in over a year, I still leave those tips in place.  More trouble than it's worth to try and move them !  We always tip in cash for food and drinks as well as service like the stateroom attendants and whoever else.

if its true that the company takes a percentage of the AUTO GRATUITIES then some of it ends up in Mr Fain's 5.5 million dollar paycheck.

58 minutes ago, AnnetteJackson said:

When I am cruising there are cruises where I do not go into the MDR at all.  I do apply gratuities in advance to my reservation, but if I dont go to the dining room, I have them adjust where those gratuities are going to.  I have elected for the MDR portion to go to the stateroom attendant, or a team of bartenders if I hung out in one bar more than the other.  I do not mind tipping people at all with extra tips and love to give cash to them, but I do not like to tip for services I did not use.

I asked to do this on Allure last month because i had the UDP and never went to the MDR and they said they can only remove auto gratuities, not change who or where they go to...