AGSLC5

tonyfsu21, I'm assuming you are a member of Club Royale.  Have you ever called them and asked what kind of room discount you can get on a sailing you are interested in ?  I was shocked and almost fell out of my chair the first time I realized that I got almost a 50% discount (usually 43 - 46% by the time it's all said and done) off of full fare (vs the 25 - 30% discount typically offered with the BOGO promos).
 
THEY DO NOT ADVERTISE ANY OF THIS.  If it hadn't been for Dan insisting that I call them and ask if we were entitled to any casino discount, I wouldn't know about it to this day.  There's no telling how much extra money I spent on cruises before I realized that the casino discount was so high.  ...and not a peep out of them about ANY kind of casino discount - ever.  I just don't understand why you would have a program that offered benefits and then NOT advertise ANY benefits.  The Club Royale Program has been FUBAR from the beginning (since I've been a member, anyway).  Maybe they will be getting their act together with the new program....if it ever comes out and if they ever let us know what it will be !
 
Anyway, the casino discount is THE absolute reason why I continue to cruise with Royal.  I just can't afford to go anywhere else !  If they screw this up with the new program, I will be free to go elsewhere !  Of course, they're telling us that this new program will be even BETTER than the old one (not a very high bar to achieve, really) but it has been my experience that when Royal tells you that you're getting something new and BETTER, it's actually getting something new and WORSE.
 
Guess we'll have to wait and see.  There are 2 excellent parts of the current program - you never have to requalify and the room discounts are great.  I know for sure that the new program will have periodic reevaluation and requalification and we'll see how the room discounts compare.  The whole "tier level" thing will probably kill me.  I'm not that big a spender.  Is suspect that the good discounts will only be for the highest tiers, which I will never be. 

Those of us without kids really like the lower pricing and quiet of non-school break sailings ;-)
 
I often wonder how greater adoption of year-round school schedules would affect the travel industry.  Plenty of data already suggests it'd do incredible things for education, and retention of curriculum.

Our "kids" are in college so the schedule works pretty good for us. Kids are away so it's time for Mom & Dad to play! See ya on the Feb 2017 cruise!

Matt has suggested this several times, but I also wanted to reiterate considering all of your travel options when planning for a cruise. While Tampa and Orlando are a bit distant from MIA and FLL, it can sometimes save you enough money to make the distance and a shuttle or one way rental worth it.
 
Case and point: We're headed on a Baltics cruise this summer that starts in Sweden and ends in Copenhagen. By opting for LA instead of our home airport, we were able to get round trip airfare for under $700 each. That's a savings of more than $400 per person.
 
The next challenge was figuring out how to get there. We could drive and park, but that would be about $200. We also explored stay/park/fly packages, but those were upwards of $300+. So I used Matt's advice and looked into one-way car rentals as shuttles were running $189 plus tip each way. It ended up that the one-way rental is running us $50, so in the end we're saving approximately $1300 by using the Florida advice.

Tell your Wife I had a friend come stay with me in the summer and my friend used Uber in Ft. Lauderdale many times while I was at work. He said they were very polite and affordable. I really have only heard good things about Uber so I think you should give it a shot.

Thanks for the thought. I'm sure it will be fine, I'll make it somehow. I just thought there might be someone in the same situation as me and we could help each other out. We haven't used Uber yet, my wife is nervous of it for some reason. I think will will try that though.

I Feel bad Jerel, I would drive you for free I am just not sure I am able to make it because I might need to go visit some family in Miami that day so I don't want to promise.. I think your best bet is Uber. It really should be like $10-$15 American dollars each way so basically half the price of a cab.

23 days away! 

I can't speak to RCCL specific options in Alaska, but I do have a few points to share based on our recent experience.
 
We did Alaska on Oceania in May.  SF, Astoria, Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, Ketchikan, Juneau, Victoria, Vancouver.  Fantastic trip in every way.  After many cruises this was our first time doing Alaska and we'll certainly go back.  
 
One consideration though is that many of the Alaskan ports of call are very small towns, so along with all the other things you account for in picking a ship/itinerary/schedule, I'd look at a site like www.cruisett.com and see how many passengers are scheduled to be in a port on a given day.  Ketchikan may be a lovely stop to spend time in when there are 4k pax, but when there are 10k pax it could be like Main Street in the Magic Kingdom on Christmas day (or Times Square on New Year's Eve - as my wife points out this is a more universal reference to *insanely crowded*)
 
Also, while I usually consider a verandah a 'nice to have' but make the decision based on price, for Alaska it should be a priority.  If you're on a larger ship the open decks could get a bit busy when cruising past glaciers, fjords, and small towns.  Even if on a smaller ship though there will be hours you'll just want to sit and relax as you watch the sights go by.  We spent more time on our verandah on the Alaska trip than all of our other sailings combined.

your welcome, enjoy your cruise!

I was original booked on the Allure's maiden voyage out of FLL (which wasn't really THE maiden voyage of course...just the first out of FL) but the ship was delivered a week earlier than had been scheduled so they squeezed a cruise in prior to the one we were on.  They did ask us if we wanted to cruise a week early - to be on the "maiden" voyage, but we had already made all of the arrangements so we stuck with week #2.
 
I was fearful that there would still be some "issues", being a brand new ship, but honestly, I cannot say that there were any.  That cruise was my first Oasis class cruise and I am still completely amazed at how different it felt from any of the other cruises I had been on.  It IS a very different experience, but unlike some of my fellow bloggers on this site, the ship is my destination, not the ports of call, so I will ALMOST always choose the ship over the itinerary, which is secondary to me.

On one cruise several years ago, I was doing very well and ended up earning about 7,500 points by the end of the week.
 
The host comped dinner at Portofino for eleven of us with a $200 credit for wine. That was truly exceptional.
 
I earned about $1,300 in a rebate for my next cruise.
 
Most cruises since then, I earn about 3,000 points, only get free drinks in the casino, and a ~$500-700 rebate on my next cruise.

AGSLC5, thank you.  Yes we are doing the Eastern itinerary.  I appreciate your information!
 

Lots of good points raised. For me I find I'm better off without the package, I'd make it worth while some days but 7 days is a bit too much for me to make it worth having.
Matt's right, you need to do the math. Monctonguy is probably right too, wine and beer package for you with a coctail package for your husband, bases covered with no worries.
Bcarney raises a good point aswell, you can find cheap booze on land. You could make them your drinking days if you don't want to explore that much. If so I'd do some research on where to go, some places are expensive. Also agree with WAAAYTOOO, punch cards are ideal but no garentee they will have them.
Wait a minute, all I did was reiterate what everyone else said, oh well.
Funny how a drinking thread got 3 different Canadians talking :).
 
On a side note, many of us here are leaving on the Allure on the 21st, we'll be getting off as your getting on. Definitely make sure to keep the ship in good shape for you, best of luck.

I just hope that if they have not resolved the Labadee dilemma before the Group cruise that they will PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE send us to Costa Maya as an alternate port.  Please do NOT send us to Belize.  I have heard discussion of Nassau, but I doubt that is a reasonable alternative port for a western Caribbean itinerary.  Maybe for eastern, but doubtfully for western.
 
Would it be practical to try and tender all of those pax at Belize ?  Hopefully not.  Costa Maya, please !

There are 4 of us booked to sail on the Anthem on March 7th through Casino Royale. 
 
We booked our parents into a grand loft suite, total savings $12,876 and we're booked into a superior ocean view, total savings of $2350. We booked this in August last year and when we originally booked it was through Mlife as platinum members. We sailed in Oct, was welcomed into Club Royale and our pricing dropped about $1000 total. We're currently looking at upgrading to the Royal Loft Suite for a super good deal through the Casino, but with the Canadian dollar it is still quite expensive **crossing fingers it drops more LOL.
 
My husband and I maybe gambled total about $2000 each (mostly tables) and we received a combined $500 rebate towards this sailing.

Saturday.  We fly out of DC at 11:15 (Jet Blue) and arrive FLL at 1:57.  From experience, chances are very good that our rooms will not be ready until 4:00 (or later) so we may end up roaming around the casino for a while until our rooms are ready - no problem for this group !
 
Even though our group is 22, only 1 other couple is staying with us at the Hard Rock (4 total).  Others are staying at the Hampton Inn (4) and the Ramada Inn (10).  4 of our group are staying with family.
 
As beautiful as that swimming pool area is and as many times as we have stayed at the Hard Rock, I have never even been down there !  Since we always cruise from Florida during the cold months, it has never really been warm enough to consider going swimming and we rarely have more than 1 night ahead of the cruise.  It's a shame.  One of these days I will make a point to spend some time down by the pool.  It's really beautiful.
 
The rooms are very nice.  Very luxurious - and BIG.  We always get a suite when we have a cruise that leaves on Saturday (making it a Friday night stay) but since the Allure departs on Sunday, our stay night is Saturday and the Hard Rock does not rent their suites for a Saturday-only stay.  I suspect if I were a high roller in their VIP program they would make an exception, but I am not.  So, it's a standard room this time, but they are very nice too.
 
The price for the room on this trip is $389.61 (before taxes) which isn't bad for the Hard Rock.  We often cruise for Christmas and the Christmas week prices are WHOA !  high.  I've paid over $500 for one night at Christmas...but that was for a suite.
 
There's so much to do at the HR that I always feel like we get a little mini-vaca before the cruise even starts.  I just love staying there.  If you're not a gambler and if you are very sensitive to cigarette smoke, then the HR is probably not the place for you...but if you DO gamble and can live with the smoke (even though I am no longer a smoker I am still a very pro-smokers' rights advocate) then it's worth the money and the fact that there are no shuttle services at ALL.  The taxis are very affordable to and from the airport and the cruiseport so I don't mind.

Yeah....great deal and I do it every time I stay in FLL !  How smart am I ? 

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. No shuttle from the airport, no shuttle to the port and extremely overpriced rooms. Sound like something you'd be interested in ?

We generally receive 43 - 46% discount on cabins. Cash rebate runs between $200 - $400 per person, per cruise. I have never been comped a room.
 
Free drinks in the casino BUT as Marc suggests, this perk is entirely at the discretion of the host, and I have read that the cost of comped drinks is subtracted from whatever cash rebate you accrue. I don't drink much so I've never noticed any reduction in my rebate.
 
I am not a high roller. I never play slots so it's a little more difficult to quantify my play. I generally bet $30 - $50 per hand but my strength is that I am in the casino a LOT.
 
I find the casinos with the electronic "trackers" are more beneficial to me than those that do not have them.
 
I have also found that bringing big money to the table helps. That does NOT mean that you have to spend a lot...just bring a lot to the table. I never go to a table without at least $1k....you just have to be disciplined not to spend it all !
 
Again, as Marc suggests, it is very frustrating to have absolutely no idea what "level" they consider me to be. Obviously, I am not a top tier. I have never had a comped room (not from RCI, anyway) but am I near the top, near the bottom, who knows ?
 
From what I understand, we will all be placed into some new "tier" based on our previous play over some period of time - that period of time is different, depending upon who you ask. Then, going forward, you will have to requalify periodically to retain your status. This is, of course, completely different from the current program, where you do not have to ever requalify.

We're in the bigger and newer is better group right now.  My first RC cruise was on the smallest (Majesty) in the fleet, the next was on the Explorer, my last was on Liberty and the next two will be on Allure and Anthem.
 
We (my wife and I) are now craving a more modern, clean decor and lots of activities/entertainment and dining choices so the newer, larger ships are for us.  Although the Majesty was nice, we felt it was badly outdated for our taste in all aspects (decor, amenities and condition).  We also had been on a Disney cruise prior to that sailing (honeymoon cruise), so it was a little bit of a downer and an unfair comparison.  It was a free cruise for us as it was a recognition cruise paid for by my employer (the Majesty is often booked by corporations for recognition events due to it's small size).  My company had booked the whole ship.  Bottom line, we still had a nice time (free is nice) and it obviously did not affect our decision to start cruising with RC.
 
I can say that bigger does not equal more crowded in our experience.  As we continue to go up in class (size), we notice that the ships seem to be so well designed for traffic flow.  The only time we feel crowded (which is probably the case on all of the ships) is on the pool deck on a day at sea, parades/events in the Promenade, or when piling out of the theater (of course) after a show.  As we go up in class we also notice that due to sheer size of the vessel, you often find more areas that are quiet/uncrowded.  My wife's coworker loves RC and has been cruising 2-3x/year for many years mostly on RC (she is approx. 60 yrs old)... she finally went on Oasis two years ago and said emphatically that it was her favorite cruise of all time to that point.  She too assumed that a ship that large with so many passengers would be crowded, but she was so pleasantly surprised!
 
I guess the question is do you want an intimate cruise with more limited activity, etc., on an older, smaller vessel (they are all refurbished periodically) or do you want to be blown away with the sheer scale, technology and amenities of the newer ships?  Of course many itineraries cannot accommodate the larger vessels so you will have a limited choice in those situations.  One thing to consider is the length of your cruise... my gut feeling is that anything less than 7-nights and you will not have the opportunity to fully explorer the larger Quantum or Oasis class ships (even 7-nights might be too short :)!).  I wish they offered a 10-night cruise on an Oasis class ship on a somewhat regular basis!  We elected to book a 12-night cruise in FEB 2017 on Anthem (just because a cruise can never be too long!). 
 
I'm starting to like being the biggest ship at port (started with Liberty)!  Enjoy your next cruise!!!   :)

Haha interesting observations. I could see it being a coincidence or there being something to it.  We'd need a more scientific approach: a few people tip normally, a few people over tip and see how it plays out.

It's now February 2016..haven't seen much activity in this forum. Anyone receive any new updates on the new program?

Shhh! Will you guys please pipe down! How's a guy supposed to hide out with all of your blabbing!?!?!?!? :lol: :lol: :lol: :D :D :D :P :P :P

I figured for the newbies, it'll be easier to recognize, "Oh, he's that bartender guy from Disney." I hoped it would shorten the time it takes to build rapport.

I could change it back.

Yes your drink package works on both Labadee and CoCo Cay