Atlantix2000

Right but that was only your second post in those 6 months! I'm not positive but I believe most forum software uses 10 posts as the threshold to turn off moderation. Even if it is higher than that, the more you post, the more often the moderators will have to approve your posts, and the more often they see your name, the faster they can realize you aren't a spammer. So the best option is to join in and post often.

Ocean View is only a window and they don't open. Balcony cabins will have a sliding glass door with a lock up at the top. There is no reason to bring your own.

Possibly not until you board, that's part of the guarantee agreement. However, if your documents included a barcode somewhere, try reading the value with a scanner app. People report that the last 4 digits are the room number even if it hasn't been officially assigned to you. This doesn't always work and it can change until it is officially assigned but many people use this trick to find out their room early. Search for the "barcode trick" on these forums and you can find better info.

The deck plans on Royal's website (https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/adventure-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2269/10) say: Grand Suite - 1 bedroom Enjoy a comfortable suite and the extra perks. (Up to 5 guests) Beds Two twin beds that convert to a Royal King bed One double sofa bed Size Stateroom: 381 sq. ft. Balcony: 95 sq. ft. However, even though it says up to 5 guests, the graphic version has a * in each Grand Suite and the legend says a * means up to 4 guests. If you play around with this website: https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/deckbydeck.php?ship=Adventure-of-the-Seas&deck=10, you can see photos of rooms and a room layout. Honestly, I don't see any mention of pullman beds so it looks to me like the room sleeps 4. Perhaps they allow 5 by bringing in a roll away bed for a small child. If your family of 5 is all adults and/or older kids, I would question the sleeping arrangements again.

My understanding is that chat messages do not generate notifications so on/off doesn't matter. That's why they say you have to look in the app itself to check.

Cruise Planner doesn't care that you have UDP because UDP reservations can only be made on board. Normally, that's fine but since Chef's Table has very limited spots, the recommendation is to book it at full price and ask Guest Services, restaurant staff, Concierge, or Genie (depending on how you booked) to adjust once you board. Izumi Hibachi is another dining option that is risky to wait until boarding to use the UDP. You'll get the difference back as OBC which can be refunded if you don't use it all.

Most people don't ask for name brand alcohol because they also don't know what to ask for or because they can't tell the difference. (And after the first drink or two, even those that can tell may lose that ability!) Personally, I don't find much difference for drinks that use a lot of mixers/non-alcohol ingredients. But if I'm sipping straight bourbon on the rocks, then I would care about the quality but would need some help picking. That's where getting to know the bartenders comes into play. Ask for recommendations and say thank you with a cash tip, and they'll make sure you're happy.

From the blog post about Royal not returning to traditional muster: Mr. Purdy went on to say participation rates are higher with eMuster than the old way, "we're fairly aggressive about ensuring that you complete the safety drill prior to sailing. So we see rates typically upwards of over 97% on our ships for participation. That's actually better than the old traditional drill." If they are happy with 97% participating in eMuster and that's BETTER than the old way, then the ship MUST be departing without everyone complying. We get tons of complaints from one-time-posters about all kinds of ways Royal has wronged them, but I can't remember anyone claiming they were thrown off the ship for skipping muster/eMuster. I've got to assume there's some threshold of participation that allows the ship permission from the Coast Guard to depart. I also seem to remember hearing about a "makeup Muster session" on the first morning for those that arrived late or didn't participate. (This memory is several years old so I don't remember details.) If that's true, maybe they do have a way to require people to attend.

Every balcony on the ship has a ceiling so it shouldn't be a surprise that you won't get sunlight from directly overhead. I wonder if the actual complaint is that the pool/upper decks overhang the sides of the ship above the poster's assigned cabin. That would mean less sunlight than most balconies. I'm not sure if that would qualify as an obstructed view cabin but it would make it a likely candidate for a GTY assignment.

If you mean an 11:30AM boarding time, that's about as early as possible. Remember the entire ship has to be emptied of passengers from the previous cruise. You will never be forced to eat at a restaurant you don't like. You may have to be flexible on what TIME you eat. If your cruise would be ruined by eating at 7PM instead of 6:30PM (as an example), then the UDP may not be for you.

I've never heard of a requirement for a passport to be valid for any amount of time before a trip. Once you get a passport, you can immediately travel using it. Even if such a rule existed, you already have a passport so there's no concern. Your passport has been valid since August of 2013 or even longer if this isn't your first renewal!

At this point, the deck plans, reviews, video tours, and countless blog posts about Harmony have been available for years. If an adult only pool is important to you, then you need to do a tiny amount of research before you spend your money!

What is a reservation fee? Do you mean deposit? Because that seems pretty cheap for a whole cruise. What category did you book? A guarantee rate? If so, did you understand the terms of that category? It means you get whatever is left after other people paid more to pick the rooms they wanted. The worst room on the ship is still a cruise vacation.

Unlike some cruise lines, Royal does not have an official minimum time between drinks. However, you're only supposed to have one drink at a time so you would have to finish your beer (or be close to it) before ordering another. This is also to prevent you from sharing your drinks package with someone else. Bartenders can also use their own discretion to cut you off if you are intoxicated or would become so based on how many drinks you've been served recently.

I agree that baby monitors using radio waves would suffer the same fate as walkie-talkies - too much metal in the walls, ceilings, and floors mean they aren't going to work well. In theory, a Wi-Fi based baby monitor would work just fine. However, I suspect they also want to discourage/prevent parents from leaving sleeping infants/toddlers alone in the room while they wander the ship. If your intention is just to hear your child from your balcony, I suspect you don't need to do anything other than open the door once in awhile to check on them. Unless you've got a big suite, you're not going to be more than a few feet from your child. The rooms aren't that big!

Most likely, they booked under the same promotion that gave you OBC and they received the same amount. Has anyone from either reservation spent any of their OBC in their cruise planner for excursions or dining or anything else? Once you do, it should be clear whether you are seeing your, theirs, or both.

There is usually a message board near Guest Services. Anyone can add an index card with info. Things like "Chicago Bears Fans meetup in Playmakers at 3PM" or "Friends of Bill W meeting in <location>" (that's an AA meeting if you didn't know), etc.

Unfortunately, anytime from the day you book to the day you board.

Scott's experience is the first time I've heard of anyone finding out their table number in advance. So it's not clear if this was something one employee did or if it's a new policy. Either way, the table number isn't very useful because they renumber them every cruise once they figure out what size tables they need to use. (If they push a bunch together to accommodate large parties, etc. that changes how many tables are actually in the room.) There are probably general rules like "the 100s are over by those windows", "the 200s are by the stairs", etc but that's not publicly known info.

I think the issue of inherited status affects fewer people than we might initially think which may be why Royal has such an inconsistent response on this topic. Keep in mind, the posters on this blog are not a good cross-section of the general cruising population. We are all either frequent cruisers or cruisers who want to discuss ALL the details. So let's think about an 18 year old that would be eligible to inherit their parent's diamond status. This teenager must have parents that cruised often enough to reach diamond BUT did most or all of their cruising before having their children or they left their children home for most of their days at sea. Otherwise, this teenager would likely have enough points to qualify as diamond on their own and not need to inherit the status. So how likely is that scenario? Royal is a pretty family oriented cruise line. I could be wrong but I don't think a lot of parents are taking Royal cruises while leaving their kids at home. Royal is never going to release numbers, but I would bet there are more people inheriting status through marriage/living together than through their parents.

Are you asking if they will let you book 5 people in a room that sleeps 4 or less? No. They'll only allow you to book a room that sleeps 5 or more. Don't assume it will be cheaper than getting 2 rooms. There aren't a lot of rooms that sleep 5+ so they are in demand and the per person price can be higher.

I agree the Bahamas requires 6 months validity for arrival BY AIR because you are officially entering the country through customs and immigration. However, arriving by cruise ship can be different. US citizens don't need a passport to travel to the Bahamas by cruise. As long as the cruise departs and returns to the SAME US port, a US citizen can cruise with birth certificate and driver's license. Unfortunately, getting clear info for non-US citizens on a US-based cruise is definitely more complicated. I wouldn't trust a call to Royal customer service. If your country has an embassy in the Bahamas, that might be the safest place to call to get a definitive answer.

The vast majority of the Caribbean countries do not have a 6 month passport validity rule. (I'm tempted to say none of them have it but I could be wrong.) This topic pops up often because there are countries in the world that have such a rule so the general recommendation is to renew your passports early just in case. For US citizens, there is no need to worry about a 6 month rule on the cruise you have described. For non-US citizens, I'm not 100% positive, but I believe you're still good.

You already paid gratuities for your specialty dining when you purchased the UDP (18% was added to the daily per person price when you checked out). That covers your specialty dining whether you eat every possible meal as specialty or not. (Not counting any upcharges for fancy entrees at a few places.) The standard gratuities which you can also pre-pay cover your room steward, some behind the scenes staff, and your non-specialty dining wait staff. Even if you never have dinner in the MDR, some of these gratuities still go to them because they also work in the buffet and other dining locations that you may still use.

You (or your Travel Agent) selected Early Traditional, Late Traditional, or My Time Dining when you booked your cruise. You can call Royal to change it but since you are sailing soon, you would likely be put on a waiting list to change. There is no way to make this change online.