AndrewPunch

Didn't know this was a thing.

Hi Everyone, So doing our 2nd Royal cruise in late march 2021 on Symphony of the Seas with the kids for Spring break. I just booked and last cruise everything was available in the cruise planner. I know I am well over a year before this happens but I love to get everything prepaid so vacation doesn't follow me home. When does Royal open up the planner to purchase dining/drink stuff and book shows?

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Hello All, The wife and I have picked a cruise for our winter 2021 family escape from the Minnesota winters. I know royal runs "sales" all through out the year but just wonder when the best time or promotion to look for when booking? We are looking at February 2021 with a family of 4, kids being 5 and 7.

Not my first rodeo with travel delays and needing to be somewhere by a specific time but first time it was vacation related and not work related.

Hi Everyone, Thanks for making my first cruise on Royal go well with all the tips and reviews on the board plus the blog post. Just a quick story time. The wife and I flew out of MSP on Friday, Dec 8th, 2017 to Fort lauderdale thru Atlanta. The same day a massive unheard of soul crushing blizzard fell on Atlanta. Our flight to ATL landed 45 mins late but our flight to FLL was a nightmare. We got on the plane at 3pm and then over the next 8 hours got on and off the plane twice, pushed back and then the flight got canceled because the crew timed out. ATL only has 8 deicing trucks and they apparently breakdown easily. MSP has 40 for a comparison. All the flights the next day were past the set sail time so we had to improvise. We stood in line for 2 hours trying to get our checked luggage back and Delta said no go at 1AM. I started the search for a rental car and all the one way, one day rentals were gone and was told there is no way we can rent you a car. Here is the trick: If you reserve a one way car but for a weekly rate it will come up and you can get out of there. It cost more but when in need its totally worth it. Most programs have an early return policy so you will get a little money back. In the end we got a car from Hertz for $360 and drove from 2AM-noon to fort lauderdale without bags. Did a quick Walmart fashion stock up and got on the boat. During the drive down talk to Delta and got our bags rerouted to Jamaica our 4th day stop and we picked them up there and enjoyed the rest of our cruise. So we were the casual people on formal night :)

I agree, but if it takes 20 mins in line at guest services to get $30 it isn't worth the messing with.

Feedback I got from RCCL casino reservation line was: "We probably will honor the $50 credit but please confirm and discuss with the desk at Izumis.". This is going to be my canary in the coal mine for dealing with RCCL, not that its a huge deal. If the desk honor's the $50 credit then it lets me know that RCCL have empowered their employees to correct small disputes around relatively small $$. If not, then they are relying on systems and policies instead of employee judgement. It will just adjust my approach to how to interact with them going forward. I don't think I could do $50 of sushi anywho.

Hi All, I have my first cruise on RCCL coming up in Dec. I haven't ever given business to this company so I don't really have a clue how well they operate. I ordered the ultimate dinning package back in May for $168 a person. One of the call outs is for Izumis or ala carte dining its a $50 credit. Looking at the cruise planner now it states it is a $35 credit. I will be calling RCCL to confirm which credit level it will be but wanted to know from any of your past expirences will RCCL honor the $50 level when I booked or the $35 credit that is now offered?

I purchased the dining combo back when it was $168 a head. I also have the drinks package with voom for myself and just the drink package for the wife. It's cheaper to hold on to what I originally booked vs switching. Like the combo offer tho.

Just saw in the cruise planner for my Dec. HOTS sailing the ultimate drinks and dining package combo for $71/day. That breaks down to $1125 for 2 with the tips added.

Dec. 2017 sailing, Harmony 7 day sailing, I booked it at $168 when it was released and now the planner is showing $203. Love how Royal plays with its pricing

Unofficially, split up when you go through security and you can do 4 bottles per stateroom.

It can be done but the effort and equipment you have to bring is a little nuts. You would need a universal remote to change the input on the remote. A wireless travel router to login to the ships wifi and then your firestick/chromecast etc... to hook into the the tv. You would use the Voom code on the wireless router to setup a bridge network and then connect your phone and firestick to your network in the cabin. Change the input with the universal remote and boom you have netflix. Easier way is just bring a universal remote, laptop and hdmi cable and you can stream from the laptop to the TV. again have to pay for the internet on the ship.

Thanks for all the info in this thread, very confusing program. I got a free 7 night cruise offer from my tier rating at my local casino in MN. We booked the Harmony in December and will see what if any benefits are on the board. I do have some casino line items on my booking charge at $0. Was told online that I will get the 5% waived but will wee what happens. I guess Royal is one of those casinos where I need to chat up the host to get any good comps.