Gears

2 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

1 & 3 are awesome!!  The French martini is also good.  A bartender made that for me one time because he said I looked like a French Martini kind of girl.  No clue what that means but it was really good!

Vodka and Black Raspberry Liquer...yum.

2 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Same.  We found this out a few cruises ago and that's why we started taking pics of their name tags (with their permission) so that we could write about it.

We've sent physical letters before praising the work of crew members by name. We always get a personal response back from a high ranking customer service officer.

@twangsteris correct. The 'vouchers' are on your Seapass card for the time (4:30 - 8:00 for example) when the Diamond Lounge is open. I have found that getting the vouchers honored in the MDR and other restaurants seems to be server/bartender dependent. Be nice, smile and call them by their name...goes a long way.

Fond memories of the Mississippi mud pie as well...with an extra piece to go. Cause you can never have too much cake...

10 hours ago, twangster said:

Me neither.  Draws too much attention.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

@BazzaB2B turn around days involve disembarking the ship and going through a brief customs exercise and getting back on the ship. You don't actually leave the terminal. If you are in the same stateroom, you don't have to do anything packing wise. If you are different stateroom, a basic pack and they move everything for you.

You can leave the terminal and come back of course. But if you're going to shop for wine the cost for a cab, the wait and dealing with the crowds might not be worth it to search out another set of wine carry on.

Unless of course you're building up a 'banked credit' being the wine hero with you wife...

10 minutes ago, Michael Vitale said:

Very interesting thread. Are y’all saying that the CC you paid for the trip with becomes, in essence, your “travel insurance” ??  They’ll refund you if you can’t go, after final payment ??

Yup! As long as the reason you can't go meets the terms outlined in the certificate of insurance.

My credit card does not require me to purchase the trip on the CC to be covered, BUT...not all are like that.

My wife and I are in your same age range.

We are at the other end of the spectrum. We have sailed on all classes of RCL ships...except Oasis class. That will change in 25 days when we get on the Allure.

You can not go wrong with the Voyager class and Freedom class. Lots of space and has all the things you are looking to do. We have heard from friends the same thing that others have said...Oasis class is beautiful as other ships...just bigger.

Have a look at the $$. That has kept us on the Voyager/Freedom class the past few years.

8 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Have you been reading CC threads? Cause that was a serious issue two weeks ago lol

LOL! No.

Interesting how something so simple as pizza can generate such keen interest from cruisers. 4 pages worth of comments in just over a month. You'd think someone said you weren't allowed to wear shorts while eating it or something... 

I find the best value (for us) is a good credit card. Don’t’ read the marketing material, read the certificates of insurance. They are not all the same. I have compared the coverage side-by-side with stand alone policies and I can’t find anything superior that fits our needs.

Ours covers travel medical, trip cancellation, trip interruption, loss due to theft, etc., etc. It also covers all the people on the trip with me…don’t have to buy a policy for each person.

The only real limitation is max 15 day coverage (under age 65). In that case a call will get the coverage extended with a reasonable charge.

Not to mention we purchase our airfare with the points we accumulate annually.

It has an annual fee of $120 which is way, way less than an equivalent stand alone policy.
 

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

Plan 5 - bring me and I'll smuggle wine 6 more bottles for your wife

We're detecting a pattern here... 

4 minutes ago, JBC said:

I brought the two bottles of wine on board with me last time, and I don't recall anyone even looking at them during a security check.  Do they just run through a machine and as long as they only see two bottles they don't bother?  What if they were 2 bottles of liquor instead?  Is it luck of the draw on the security check?

2 Bottles of wine only per stateroom. Anything else can be seized.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-alcohol-guest-policy

39 minutes ago, Bazza said:

3 B2B cruises, 2 people, 1 non-drinker - so been giving this some thought! 

And all of this planning for my wife who likes a nice red wine and nothing in it for me as the token teetotal person on the ship! Maybe I am risking walking the plank?!

Plan 1 = we go on together with the 6 bottles in total, they take 4 off us and give us 2 per cruise (i.e. stick to the 'the rules') 

Plan 2= we go with plan 1 BUT on the change over days we try to take another 2 on with us when we get back on the ship hoping somehow too busy to check we already have 2 in store for us - do they have itemised records of what we brought on 10 days earlier? @twangster @Matt @Sabrinaklai you may know?!

Plan 3 = If plan 2 works we try the same again 3 days later when getting on for the 3rd and final leg of the 27 day adventure - by now my wife should be sleeping like a baby every night!

Plan 4 = we split up on embarkation carrying 6 bottles each (2 per cruise) hoping they don't notice!!! Hmmmmm somehow think not!

Important item in the bringing alcohol on board: "Alcoholic beverages seized on embarkation day will not be returned." Sorry...missed the 'except wine part'.

You are allowed 2 bottles per stateroom when boarding. Expect any additional to be seized and not returned.

So here's the subject line from the e-mail verbatim: EXCLUSIVE! It's a special announcement for you: Save big before you board.

The Deluxe Beverage Package is priced $3 more than it was last week (when it was $47). Aren't I special! Nothing else has changed...but it's EXCLUSIVE!. SMH...RE

7 minutes ago, Lauren said:

I don't know whether to laugh or just shout NO!!   I just read a post on Facebook that said if you leave an open bottle of wine in your stateroom and the cabin steward sees it, they will charge you a corkage fee. They are also recommending you never throw the empty bottles away in your cabin or the steward will charge you the corkage fee. The OP was telling people to carry the empty bottle to the nearest trash can outside their cabin and to be sure they hide the open bottle or finish it in one sitting. Now...  I, personally, am not a wine drinker, but I have to think that most people reading those posts will believe them and I will see empty wine bottles everywhere I look! 

Fake news. :) You can buy a bottle of wine on board (MDR for example), take it with you and leave it in your stateroom...opened.

Your stateroom is not a public area.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/charge-corkage-fee

17 minutes ago, jurrjurr said:

Looking to book this sailing for April 2019.  It sails out of Miami, FL.  We have been wanting to visit the Southern Caribbean islands for sometime now but the cost of airfare to San Juan has been prohibitive.  We have never sailed on Navigator OTS.  What are your thoughts for the ship and itinerary?   Thanks in advance! 

We did this exact cruise last year on the NOTS. We would certainly do it again!

I will send you a PM on the least cost ways to get to San Juan other than out of Pearson.

6 hours ago, PrincipalTinker said:

As a first time cruiser I think this could be very confusing. The paid offering is listed as an “activity” in my cruise planner. My free option is entertainment. 

This is an excellent point.

At one time we were first time cruisers and I can certainly tell you...if I knew then what I know now...many things would have been 'better' from a customer experience point of view. We're D+ and I have to visually sift through the Cruise Planner stuff to get through the refuse to what we want. If I was a newbie, so to speak, it wouldn't be difficult to not click on something without knowing any better.

If someone has the money to throw off the back of the ship (aka VIP Mamma Mia!) please let me know...my wife and I are always looking to be adopted by exactly such fine folks.

The current situation with the flu in not only North America, but Europe as well, is not helping either.

The CDC website indicates 51 of 54 the US national reporting jurisdictions are reporting 'elevated' flu activity status. You can bet some of that is making its way onto cruise ships.

Talk about jammin' them in...an inside stateroom beside the gym.

This is as laughable as paying for the cup cake decorating class...or the MDR cookbook.

Looks like our sailings on the Allure have the 'free' option and the insider 'watch your wallet' version of Mama Mia!. Unfortunately...I am being forced to go...only because my wife is a massive ABBA fan. Will need to bring my sunglasses so she can't see my eyes closed whilst napping. 

First, if you bought with a credit card, check to see if your credit card covers you for trip cancellation for non-preexisting medical conditions. Mine does.

Second, it's only a cruise. Only from my opinion and experience with others with cardiac issues...what you need to evaluate is RISK. While they have great medical facilities on a ship, they are NOT equipped to handle post-op complications.

21 minutes ago, UkuleleCruiser said:

I'm gonna take another look tonight. Maybe I'll build my own drink package! 

Have a look in Cruise Planner. In your reservation there is a tab at the top 'Cruise Planner'. Click on that, BUT...don't click on get started. Scroll down to "Shop Royal Gifts".

Under 'Choose a Category' pick On Board Delivery, then Choose a Category again and choose Wine Cellar.

OK...just went to book some discounted stuff...but.

Labadee...Beach Lounger for Two. I read it as conflicting information...it says for "Two", but they want to charge you 'per person'.

If it's 'for two', does it make sense to have a price 'per person'? Right now it says $36 and asks how many guests. if I say two guests it wants to charge $72.

Does this make sense?

5 hours ago, UkuleleCruiser said:

There bottle prices aren't that bad. I suppose you can always "do it yourself" for a wine flight.... I imagine the corking fee is included if we buy it from RC?

No corkage fee if it's bought on the ship.