Atlantix2000

I'm pretty sure all cruise planner sales and emails use the phrase "X% off on board prices". The part that isn't clear is that those on board prices can and do change constantly until you are ... on board. They also don't publish the on board prices until you are ... on board. The only real information you have is the current price. Everything else is marketing. It's not really different than any other business. I was just shopping for a couch. One store might have a sign saying "Our Price $4399! Compare at $5599!" What does that actually mean? They are suggesting a competitor is selling the same thing for a lot more but there's no proof. Which store? When? Is it still valid? Is it exactly the same product? Did they just make up a number? I don't know. Maybe there's a store out there that lists that as their regular price but I bet they've got it on sale too and probably for the same amount. All you can do is decide if you are willing to pay the current price.

I guess the part I left out was the idea that the phone representative could be looking directly at Royal's FAQ, see the words "two days" clearly written, and then still say "48 hours" because they truly believe it means the same thing. I don't know how to fix that problem.

That website is very clear, but the thread was started due to a phone call which gave a different answer. Therefore, Royal is being inconsistent.

To many people, "2 days before X" and "48 hours before X" mean exactly the same thing. They are right when X is measured in days (the bigger unit of measure). They are wrong when X is measured in hours (the smaller unit of measure). The problem is Royal is not consistent is defining X as "day of departure", "boarding time", or "departure time". I have this problem with software requirements all the time. Client gives a non-specific requirement and gets annoyed when I try to pin them down on what they mean. I'm sorry there are 10 different ways to interpret your requirement, but the computer is going to do exactly what I write, not what you mean!

Almost 9 year old zombie thread!

That list is an example of what's available on the ship but you are not limited to what is listed. Not every ship and not even every bar on the same ship has the exact same selection. If the bar you are at has what you want, you can get it with the drink package (though certain expensive brands may have an upcharge). There is no guarantee a specific brand will be available especially during these times with supply chain issues. Crown is normally stocked but there is no way to know if your cruise will have it. If that makes the difference between getting the package and not, then I guess I'd advise waiting and buying by the drink.

I didn't say the Windjammer doesn't have Indian food. The thread asked about the MDR. I'll happily revise my statement to say the MDR staff could be bringing Indian food from the crew dining room or the Windjammer. My point was simply that the MDR's kitchen is not making Indian food and that's why it's not on the official menu there.

I think in the case of Playmakers, sharing a round of food is probably fine. I would expect they would use the combined credits of each person with the UDP, and present you with a bill for the balance if there is one. What would not be OK, is if someone tried to repeatedly use the same credit over the course of a LONG visit. In other words, if someone ordered food for their non-UDP friends, closed the tab and "left", and then came back to the same table with the same friends and expected to order another round of food to be free. That would be against the spirit and I hope the staff would not allow it.

Indian food (vegetarian or not) is generally not on the menu of the main dining room (especially on a US based cruise). When people say it is available, what they mean is the wait staff is able to bring you food from the crew dining room which has a totally different unpublished menu. The main dining room menu is based on the tastes of the average passenger (mostly US and Europeans) while the crew dining room caters to the tastes of a mostly foreign crew (foreign from a US perspective). I've heard the crew is very willing to share their cuisine with those interested.

Hmm, thought I saw this news already posted here somewhere but can't find it: https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27683-silversea-set-to-acquire-crystal-endeavor.html

Uh the person that asked the question sailed over 2.5 years ago. Always check the date before reviving an ancient thread!

I think Chrome remembers settings for individual websites. Maybe you accidentally changed the zoom setting. Try holding Control and scrolling your mouse wheel to change the zoom. A little pop-up will show the current size. I often change my browser to 110%.

Seems like a good time to insert one of my favorite photos...

Points per night is a simple formula. The base rate is 1 point per night. +1 if you are in a suite. + 1 if you are sailing solo (and it's not a designated solo cabin). So the possible values are 1, 2, or 3 points per night depending on your situation. Separately, during the restart, it was possible to book under a double points promo which no longer exists for new bookings. Under that program, the points would be 2, 4, or 6 points per night based on the same conditions above.

@scottandholter Despite many questions about 3 ships scheduled at Coco Cay on the same day, I've yet to see anyone report that it has actually happened. To the best of my knowledge, each case has fallen into one of the following categories: At least one ship's itinerary was eventually changed to prevent this from happening. The information came from a non-Royal website that was not up to date on itinerary changes. Confusion due to Royal's website showing a generic itinerary for a type of cruise (ex: 4 Night Bahamas Cruise on XXX of the Seas) that is offered many weeks in a row but the fine print says "Order of ports varies by sailing date." Forthat last category, unless you actually attempt to book the cruise, you could easily be assuming the wrong date that the ship would be visiting Coco Cay.

That sounds like you are asking for Traditional Dining at 5:30 (the early dinner time). This post is asking about My Time Dining where you can reserve different times for each dinner or just show up and take next available table.

Have the prices for individual drinks gone up in the last year? It seems like the package prices are soaring but I think the standard cocktail is still $13. That's going to mess with the break even point. Could they be intentionally trying to get fewer people to get the package?

Do you trust your local weather forecast to be accurate 3 days out? Sometimes I don't trust mine 3 hours out!

The ability to add more spots depends on the specific excursion. For most ports, the excursions are operated by independent vendors and they would need to have additional staff, transportation, and equipment so it isn't always possible. Other excursions like cabanas on Coco Cay are restricted by the number of units available and number of ships visiting that day. So you have to hope for cancellations (or maybe passengers on the other ship didn't use their allotment and it become available to your ship) but that's just a hope. Finally, for something like the Thrill Waterpark, the can't open unlimited spots without reducing the experience. If they sell so many tickets that the lines for the slides get ridiculous, people won't come back or will demand refunds. They may not publish a capacity limit, but you can bet they have one. To answer the question in the thread title, I don't think I've ever seen evidence that they hold some excursion capacity for after you board the ship. Most likely, anything available on board will be due to cancellations. I think you also have to cancel 48 hours before the excursion to get a full refund.

My guess is there's a rounding issue in the software behind the scenes. Due to some sort of glitch with currency conversion or something else, the customer ends up owing a fraction of a cent ($0.0001). But when they display the bill and send the email, it auto-formats to the standard 2 digit dollar amount ($0.00) which makes it appear you are paid in full. The people on the phone say everything is fine because they probably see the same thing. But the system knows the customer owes a "balance" and cancels the cruise because they aren't looking at the amount just whether it is zero. It's a rookie coding error, but that seems par for the course with Royal's IT.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10856993/Celebrity-Cruises-passenger-received-blood-HIV-positive-person-ship-medics.html#readerCommentsCommand-message-field So she had a life-saving blood transfusion from a volunteer donor while on a cruise and is later diagnosed with HIV. I'm pretty sure US law requires screening of blood for normal donations but does that apply during an emergency situation? And is that required internationally? And even if it does, I'm not sure where the burden of proof lies here. Can she prove she wasn't HIV positive previously? Can Celebrity prove they tested the blood (if required)? Is the donor even known? So many questions.

@Brialune, @VivK, This is a common confusion and is best illustrated by the process of reserving a cabana on Coco Cay. These cost a few hundred dollars and let you bring 6-8 people depending on the location. But when you purchase, you're only supposed to have one person purchase the cabana. If you list 6-8 people, you'd actually be trying to reserve 6-8 cabanas which would cost thousands! At least in that case it's very obvious something is wrong because the bill is so extreme. The same logic applies with Voom. Have one person purchase a plan that supports the max number of devices you want to connect at the same time.

While the adult UDP would give you a $20 credit for each visit to Playmakers, I would assume the child's UDP would give a lower credit per visit. If you're saying your child would eat all the food, great. But if you're suggesting the adults will be the ones primarily doing the eating, I would say that's definitely against the spirit of the plan. Could you get away with it? Maybe, but they'd probably change the fine print to address this loophole. Don't be that guy.

If it looks like a surge protector, it's best to assume it won't be allowed even if it technically meets the requirements. Multi-port USB chargers are the best option to bring. Anything that gives you more outlets could be rejected.

Note that this is a resurrected 3 year old thread