Atlantix2000

Think of the 4 rooms like the floors of a normal MDR. On most ships My Time Dining is on one (or more floors) and Traditional Dining is on the others. On Anthem, My Time will generally be in 2 of the rooms and Traditional in the other 2. For My Time, you still go to the host stand and they'll give you your table just like other ships.

I'm always curious why this question gets asked. Is it just a serious need to plan ahead or is there something else people are looking for that isn't obvious to me?

I needed to use one of those computers to check into my flights at the end of my honeymoon. They charged about $13 for an hour or two of access (don't remember the details). The username/password was for Voom, and after dealing with my flights, I was able to use it on my cell phone to connect and browse Facebook, email, etc until it shut off.

The rules of the guarantee rate say you can receive your assignment anytime including the boarding date itself. There is no schedule or way to predict.

With the UDP, you can't make reservations until you board the ship so it doesn't matter how early you purchase the plan. Once on board, making your reservations should be something you do on the first day and if you do, you'll have no trouble making reservations. If you wait until later in the cruise, the more popular venues and times will start filling up and you'll have to be flexible.

Yep. Check the home page Matt has a blog entry describing what he'll be doing on the shakedown cruise.

Why not both? I think I would be asking for someone high up (Hotel Director?) to come explain the discrepancy in person. For full amusement, ask them for a conference call with Mr Bailey on speaker phone! That'll get someone's attention!

Cruise accepted is just marketing (and it worked), but it has no official meaning and didn't come from the cruise lines. Especially since the people doing the inspections are port employees not cruise employees. Most of them take the approach: "it has outlets so it's a surge protector, it's banned." Travel adapters should work (convert one outlet of this type to one outlet of that type). Multi-port USB anything should work (no power outlets so it's not considered a surge protector, which probably isn't even true for all of them) Anything else, don't be upset if they take it away.

It's hard to know. Some port employees will simply deny any power strip at all which is why there are so many recommendations for multi-port USB chargers. There's really no such thing as a cruise approved power strip. Some manufacturers put that label on their device but it's not an official endorsement. Even if it meets all the rules of the cruise line, the people doing the inspections work for the port not the cruise line, and if they say no, that's that.

Cancellations, changed itineraries, and shortened or extended cruises are all part of the risk of sailing during hurricane season. Do you really expect Royal to sail their ships into a storm and risk their property and the lives of their customers? So you tried to use a voucher you hadn't received? I agree your customer service experience was horrible but I think you should have followed up on that voucher after the 10 days.

A good way to think of the Voom plans is to add the words "at a time" to the end. So 1 Device "at a time" or 2 Devices "at a time". There's no actual limit to the number of physical devices you can use. However, if your multiple devices involve multiple people, you could potentially finish writing a long email (or a post on this blog), hit send, and find that you've already been logged off by someone else in your family and you've just lost all that work!

There is simply no way to predict when entertainment will be available to reserve. All you can do is check every day.

@Chef Sandra, it is HIGHLY unlikely boarding will actually be delayed until 2:30PM. These form emails (and in fact all emails giving you specific boarding times) should be ignored. You'll find this advice in many, many threads on these boards. Most people report still report boarding around 11 even when they've supposedly had a Coast Guard inspection. If you have the Key and showed up at 2:30, you would probably be told you missed your Chops Key lunch. Also, purchasing the Key for an earlier embark time doesn't make sense. If you are there (and checked in) before boarding starts, yes, you'll be among the first to board. However, non-Key guests who also showed up that early will be following you onto the ship. The Key has its benefits, but embark time is not one of them (in my opinion of course).

If everyone took that email seriously, there would be no way to check in all guests between 3:30 and 4PM. I doubt it would be possible for everyone to physically walk on board in that short a time. Arrive when you planned. You might have to wait, but most of the time, the coast guard does not delay boarding by much (and certainly not until 3:30!).

As the rules are written, the answer would be no and I would expect them to answer your email that way. However, you might get lucky at the port. Those bottles must be unopened (so they won't think you're trying to sneak extra alcohol on board). Don't buy anything expensive so you don't get upset if they make you toss them.

I imagine it would be stored somewhere, but not necessarily at the same terminal and the process to retrieve might not be as easy as you imagine. It will probably end up wherever lost and found is for the entire port. Also remember, the port employees aren't Royal's employees so if something happens to your luggage, you may not have any recourse through Royal. You'll have to post what port you are using to get a better answer.

Formal nights are whatever you want them to be. All it really means is there are photographer available is a couple places to take nice family photos. The average dress will be a little nicer but there will still be a full range from truly formal to casual. Wear what you like.

If you are on a week long cruise, it is actually a 7 night cruise which means you'll be on board for 8 different days. Six full days and two partial days which can come fairly close to a full day if you board early enough. You'll have 7 dinners, 7 breakfasts, and 7 lunches unless you board late in the afternoon, but then you're missing part of the vacation you paid for! The drink package works the same way, 7 daily charges. Same thing with gratuities, 7 daily charges.

I'm also thinking this was a partial charter. You or your friend could google the sailing date and name of the ship to see if something comes up.

I'd say you've managed to find a part of the edocs that hasn't been updated since the policy was changed. That's not surprising, unfortunately. Each room can bring a 12 pack of soda or water in their carryon. Each room can also bring two 750mL bottles of wine (that's the normal size).

I'm pretty sure Dynamic Dining hasn't existed for multiple years. As explained above the 4 dining rooms had different menus and you rotated between them. It didn't go over well so they swtiched back to single menu, no rotation which is what I'm sure you experienced. But there's no way to recreate a single dining room without a major dry dock remodeling.

Totally off topic, but I"m amazed that the recent deaths of 46 vapers (is that the current number?) has lead to bans on certain vaping products and even calls to ban vaping completely. Yet, smoking causes and has caused WAY more deaths but there's basically no movement to completely ban it. I guess the tobacco companies benefit from a long history of acceptance (plus their powerful lobbyists).

There may indeed be a price difference when booking through a US vs non-US agency. However, booking rules are based on where you book your travel. For instance, US bookings are able to get price reductions but that isn't true in the UK. On the other hand, UK bookings sometimes have drink packages included and that never happens in the US. Another cause of price differences will be what consumer rights/protections are included based on country of booking. I've heard European fares are generally higher but they have a lot of protections we don't have here in the US. So to sum up, price isn't everything, make sure you understand what you are getting depending on how/where you book.

@Pima1988, I'm not saying my contribution is worth changing the rules, but take a look at the other thread. Post after post of non-smokers saying they'd gamble more or be willing to start and not a single smoker saying they'd stop gambling. Even if every non-smoker only contributed a bit of play, there are literally thousands of them available to fill all the empty chairs I see when I walk through the casinos. I'm absolutely confident that Royal would make more money.

I don't think you can make that conclusion. All this shows is that people are still willing to sail Royal because the vast majority of the ship is non-smoking. If they allowed smoking anywhere on board, I guarantee they'd lose sales.