Atlantix2000

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

I believe if you're paying in £ they don't add the 18% gratuities so it's a little closer in comparison in total.

According to google, the current exchange rate is essentially 1 dollar to 0.8 pounds.  So $25 * 1.18 = $29.5 final price * 0.8 = 23.6 pounds.  Pretty similar number.  It's always important to compare final price to final price.

45 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

What location? I am not understanding... 3rd from the left 2 tables in from the staircase??

Tables get rearranged every sailing based on the size of the parties.  So a "specific location" would be something like 4th floor, near the railing, away from the entrance.

3 hours ago, Cruzn-N-Boozn said:

The prices for the specialty restaurants have increased drastically over the past few years. We've tried every restaurants on several different cruises because they were gifted to us from our cruise agency. We found each of them to be EXTREMELY underwhelming. The service was subpar at each restaurant, and in our opinion, the food and experience was far worse than what we get at Windjammer. We are not pretentious foodies, yet we still had complaints about nearly every aspect of each specialty dining experience on Royal Caribbean. We decided that we will no longer waste our time on specialty restaurants, even when they are gifted to us. They have really been that bad.

Wow, it's a good thing you were able to find this almost 6 year old thread to post your opinion.  Strange that there just haven't been any discussions of specialty restaurants since then.

3 hours ago, Gilligan said:

If this has been asked before I apologize.....  For GTY rooms, do they just set a block aside, then the ones that you see that is available on the website have not been booked at all?  Or do they have all rooms that have not been picked individually (you pick your room) shown and GTY rooms get what is left?  I hope that makes sense, I was just curious how it's done.  Like I said, if it's a stupid question my apologies, that is why I picked Gilligan as my screen name...lol.

Rooms are not set aside for GTYs.  They use the leftover rooms that people haven't chosen (which varies from sailing to sailing).  It seems that once the number of available rooms in a category drops below some unpublished threshold, they offer both "you choose" and "we choose (GTY)" rooms in that category.  Once the number of available rooms drops below another unpublished threshold, they only offer GTYs and that category effectively disappears from the website.  To make things more confusing, the website is also known to not show all available rooms so there's no way to predict that they are approaching these thresholds.  If you book by calling Royal or by using a travel agent, then you may have access to rooms not shown on the website.

3 hours ago, YellowBrickRoad said:

I bought the three night dining package yesterday with a sale. I noticed there was no making a courtesy reservation on either night #1 or #2 when you purchase a package. Does anyone know if that has changed? 

I don't recall the courtesy reservation actually showing up anywhere visible.  It's just in the system.  When you board and go to make the rest of your reservations, it should be there (and can be changed at that time).

56 minutes ago, KevinK said:

I just called Crown & Anchor to have one of the kid to link it to my diamond.   The rep told me once the kid reach 18 years of age.  He will be removed from my account which he will be no longer link to me.  He will lost the Diamond benefits if he hadn't reach 80 points by then.  Is this true?  I though once they are link to my account, they will be diamond tier.  Just the points they have to earn it on their own.  

Here's my memory of various threads here.  You can search to find more info.  There are differing reports on what happens when a minor with Diamond status due to their parents' status reaches 18 years old.  Some say they will keep Diamond status but won't move any higher until their actual points catches up.  Some (generally more recent) say they revert to whatever status their actual points would give them.  The language in the C&A rules is ambiguous.  It is definitely true that everyone's actual points is tracked regardless of status.  Of course, having the minors reach 80 points before they turn 18 would make them diamond from first cruise to last.

On 4/18/2024 at 8:56 PM, Minuet888 said:

I don't see the stay a while option on mine  Symphony Newark in May 31st - June 7th

It's only an option over in Europe.  In the US, the ship must be cleared of all passengers before the they can start boarding the next cruise.  Therefore, you can't stay on the ship past about 9:30AM or so or everyone on the next cruise will be mad at you because they want to start their vacation!

4 hours ago, Gilley said:

I logged in my account and notice most of my people I have linked to me were given an extra $50 OBC with the exception of my self and 3 people who are sharing a room.  I wasn’t sure if this was a glitch in the system so I was hesitant to call Royal and ask why the other people and myself was only given $50 instead of $100.  Should I call or wait until I get onboard.  It’s my May 18th Icon cruise and my first cruise since becoming diamond.

I wouldn't think linking has anything to do with the amount of OBC.  What would matter is when the various reservations were made (in other words, what promos were in effect at that time).  If you all booked at the same time and in the same category of stateroom, then I would think the difference is strange.  But if everyone did their own reservations and you linked them up later to dine together, then I would assume they booked a different deal than you did.  Kind of like how the person next to you on an airplane could have paid a wildly different price.

16 hours ago, SJT said:

I will also avoid as much as possible any onboard photos

You do realize you will be on security cameras at almost all times when you are out of your stateroom?

Dumb question time.  What is the point of an arcade balance if they just charge the room when it runs out?  How is that different than never having an arcade balance?

15 minutes ago, Debstr66 said:

Oh that may be it. My DH is likely still Gold. 

Your husband will be promoted to your Diamond level if you call C&A and tell them you're in a relationship!

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

I don't believe this is true. You still have to log into the app to get to the chat feature.

Hmm, I may be confusing the Disney Cruise Line app with Royal's.  I've been researching Disney for a future cruise.

8 hours ago, Fastfaller said:

Yes and no. For one I have heard it is crap... Delayed and missed messages etc. Second, I have a 12 yr old and they cannot sign up for an account on the app. They have to be over 13. Which is fine for my other 2 kids but not my youngest. 

The app while at home is not the same as the app while on the ship.  As I understand it, once on the ship, anyone can use the app simply by entering their name and room number with no age restriction.  There's probably some youtube videos to view how it behaves differently.

4 hours ago, Alynns1 said:

Hi! My husband and I are traveling on Liberty of the Seas this upcoming May. I didn't understand the My Time Dining when we first booked, and by the time I went to book our selected times for it, there were only 8PM and later times available. So, I went ahead and booked traditional dining at 7:45pm each night. I am worried that this will be too late for the shows and I wonder if anyone knows what the times are for the theater, ice skating, and adult couples game show they host?

Any other tips for our trip are also welcome

Generally speaking, the shows are timed to be compatible with early and late traditional dining.  So if you have late traditional dining, you go to the early show (and vice-versa).  Ice skating typically happens outside of dinner hours.  Adult game shows will be after the late shows so also outside dinner hours.

7 minutes ago, Scott Wooten said:

Is it ok to wear dress shorts into the main dining room for dinner? Or do I need to wear dress casual pants?

There will be plenty of people in non-dress shorts.  The only hard rule is no swimsuits.

12 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Are the adapter/converter types allowed onboard?

If it changes one single outlet to one single outlet, then yes it should be allowed.  (On this topic, I'm never going to state anything with 100% confidence!)  Where people have issues is when their devices create more power outlets.  The port employees don't care about the difference between multi-outlet adapters, power strips, surge protectors, etc.  It's just easier to say more than one outlet = no.

49 minutes ago, Fastfaller said:

I am not sure, but I am always worried about the euro plugs frying my equipment due to the differences in voltage/wattage. You have to be sure that whatever you are plugging into that, it can handle it.

There's two kinds of adapters for euro plugs: 1) the type that just changes the shape of the outlet - this one is potentially dangerous for your equipment because the output is still 240V which will fry anything designed only for 120V.  2) the type that changes the shape AND the voltage of the outlet - this is the type you want since the output is now 120V.

Also consider that if you are buying insurance now, it may not apply to a cruise you have previously purchased.  This would fall in the same category as "Oops, I have to cancel my cruise, so I better go buy an insurance policy, so I can get all my money back."  The fact that you are already aware that your cruise could be skipping Labadee makes it too late to get insurance to cover that possibility.

21 hours ago, AmyE said:

Hi!

Doing a cruise this summer and I'm really interested in doing the Delos Tour while I'm in Mykonos. However, I know that there's nothing on the island. So how if I need to use the bathroom while we're there, what happens? Anyone have experience on this?

There's a nice museum on the island with bathrooms, running water, air conditioning, etc.  I wouldn't say there's nothing on the island.  Take a look at Google Maps, etc.

2 hours ago, Scarlett625 said:

Was able to call RC and switch to the different itinerary. I was charged $100 per person for the switch but I'm okay with that. Although I did have to pay that $200 fee today. 

Question, though... I keep hearing about a refundable deposit but whenever I book through the website, I don't see that option anywhere in the process. Is that something that can only be done by calling RC directly or through an agent? 

As I understand it, the refundable deposit option is the very last step before booking the cruise.  In other words, you've already entered all passenger information and are ready to put down your deposit and somewhere on that page, you can choose to pay a bit more to make the cruise refundable.  Note this option is not available for suites (and I don't remember if junior suites count for this).  It's probably easy to miss in the excitement of finalizing the booking and I believe that is intentional.

2 hours ago, barjpoe said:

Is there any where to find the deck plans?  When I go to the web site and click on ship ; Icon it doesn't have a tab for deck plans.

You have to scroll all the way to the bottom where you'll find a group of 5 giant links.  The first is deck plans.

3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Not pointing this out to be a jerk, but 4N weekday cruises go from M-F. You can't fly home on Thursday.

You're forgetting my time machine!
Oh OK, you got me, I did NOT think that through all the way.

5 hours ago, steverk said:

The downside for the cruise line is it has to be paired with a 4 night cruise during the week.  This makes far less sense for someone who has a job and wants to maximize their vacation time.

I actually disagree with this point.  For me, a 4 night weekday cruise means I can take a week vacation (M-F) and still have most of both weekends for yardwork, housework, and don't have to rush to pack/unpack.  If the cruise is M-Th, I can fly in a day early on Sunday (cheaper than F/Sat) and fly home later Thursday (also cheaper than Friday) and I can mow my lawn both weekends.  For a 7 day cruise, I'm definitely losing a full weekend (no matter what day it embarks) and going straight from work to travel and/or vice-versa.

Now I may be in the minority on this, but I like having time at home between work and vacation.

With the exception of Izumi Hibachi, you should be able to get into all the restaurants you want.  What you may not get is the exact day and time you want for each restaurant.  If you feel strongly that eating outside of your preferred dinner hours would be a less enjoyable cruise, then the UDP may not be for you.  If you are flexible, then you save money.  The only recommendation I have is that if you keep the UDP, spend time right after you board taking care of all your reservations for the week.

Did the cruise planner just open for your cruise or have reservations been open awhile?  Desirable dinner times do tend to get reserved quickly (just like land restaurants).  You could find your cruise group (here or various other sites) and ask what others have seen.