Atlantix2000

58 minutes ago, DEANNA McKenna said:

Someone said, connect to their Wifi and use I messanger... ???

If you and everyone you want to talk to have an iPhone, there's an odd loophole that allows iMessenger to work for free on two specific ships (I think Harmony and Symphony, but don't quote me on it).  There's something weird about the old Royal Caribbean app that requires a certain port to be open which just happens to be the same port iMessenger uses.  However, that app is going away as they spread the new app to more and more ships.  This loophole does not exist on any other ships and once the new app replaces the old app on those ships, this loophole will be gone.  It's probably better to assume it won't exist by the time you cruise so plan on purchasing wifi access so you can use wifi calling.

2 hours ago, WhiteSoxFan said:

Just curious, would travel insurance help cover the expense of any additional nights of lodging between the times your ship was scheduled to sail and when it actually sails?

Potentially yes.  It depends on what kind of insurance you purchased and what the fine print for that specific policy says.  (Sorry, I know that's not the most helpful answer.)

7 hours ago, Bakerette said:

I agree with @Atlantix2000 said about Verizon having travel pass, but I don’t agree with what was stated about how the travel pass works & that you are sent a text with your location and the price for that location.

The price for the travel pass is $5 per day per device when you call or text people each day durning your travels on the days that you use your devices connected to your Verizon account.

if you have a smartphone you can download Verizon wireless app (if you decide to switch to Verizon) & create an online account & add travel pass ti your account & then you call Verizon & tell them what countries you are gonna be visiting. 

When I had Verizon I added travel pass to my account & then I called Verizon and told them the countries that I was going to visit, so when the cruise ship was within a few miles of each country we were sailing by I would get text when we are near every country. The first time that i used phone/text/data in a foreign country, they did not send a free text that has stated the cost while using my phone in every country that we were cruising by & I was not asked to approve the cost for using my phone in a foreign port.

@Atlantix2000is incorrect when they made the statement that travel pass only provides service on the islands and not on the ship. Travel pass provides service on the islands and on ships. I cruised twice with travel pass on my account & one of those times I had purchased Voom on that cruise and I had made several phone calls from my smartphone & sent several text both on land and I the ship & travel pass worked on the ship & on the islands, & the other time I was not with Verizon but I did purchase Voom & i was still able to send text & make phone calls from my smartphone, & my smartphone was useable with just Voom & without the travel pass.

Well, there's a few differences (and years) between our explanations.  I just double checked with my parents who used Travel Pass in Europe this month.  On days they used service, they got a text stating that they were being charged for Travel Pass and giving the date/time it would expire (24 hours from first use).  There was no way to reject and perhaps that has changed since I used it on my honeymoon but that's how I remember it from back then.

When I said Travel Pass doesn't work on the ship, I meant out at sea away from an island and that is true.  There simply aren't cell towers in the middle of the ocean so you can only connect to the ship's tower which uses Cellular at Sea which costs an arm and a leg.  However, within a certain distance of land, the ships are legally required to turn off their towers and you can connect to the cell towers on land while technically being on the ship.  In that situation, yes, you will be using Travel Pass.  Note that this is only going to happen when you head into and out of a port.  If the ship is passing an island, it should be far enough out that you can only connect to the ship's tower.

However, you mentioned you purchased Voom on both your cruises which is WiFi service.  With Voom, your calls and texts will be routed over the ship's WiFi and you are not using Verizon, Travel Pass, or any other company's service to make those calls/texts.

1 hour ago, 711Dave said:

Can you also bring two bottles of Wine along with the 12 cans?

Yes you can!

6 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

How hard are these? Is there a way to make them more advanced?

I did one with some friends and it only took about 10 min. Very much a let down.

I don't know about the ones on the ship, but for a normal escape room, your description is very unusual.  Every room I've done gives you one hour and is designed so that not every group will be able to finish in that time.  (You know, so you'll pay to try again!)  Once you've done a few, you recognize certain common types of puzzles which can help your group's success rate.)  My friends and I usually take about 50 minutes to complete an escape room.

However, even if I knew where every clue was located, I don't think I could physically complete all the tasks in 10 minutes.  Usually you have to find keys that unlock new sections of the room but every time you find a key, you have to figure out which lock it goes to.  And each key generally requires some sort of puzzle/logic to retrieve.  Sometimes you can do certain tasks out of order and then get stuck because you missed something you were supposed to find earlier.  Does any of that describe the room you tried?

1 hour ago, ChrisK2793 said:

 I now know that when something goes wrong like that you have to complain on the ship ......... even though they could EASILY verify that the suite we were in is STILL a dump a day later.

Of course, in theory, they can verify your claims but think of it like the Telephone Game.  (You know, where each person is supposed to whisper a message to the next person in line, and you compare the original message to what the last person hears and laugh about how it got messed up along the way.)  When you are on the ship, the number of people between you and the person that can fix something is a few chains of command.  From off the ship, you're asking someone in a customer service call center to relay a message through corporate to the correct person on the ship.  Are they likely to get your exact list of problems or something like this: "Someone complained about the curtains in that one room on a sailing a few weeks ago."  At that point, the people on the ship have way more important things to worry about than figuring out what the message was supposed to be.  After all, they've got the people in front of them complaining to make happy!

It could also be a privacy issue.  I'm sure somewhere in the cruise contract we agree to be on security cameras all over the ship but does it say anything about letting the whole world see us on the ship?

He's been charged, that doesn't mean he'll be convicted.  A jury of his peers can very easily choose not to convict based on lack of intent and compassion for his grief.

The other thing these charges mean is that the family's lawsuit against Royal is not likely to go anywhere since the police are clearly placing the blame on the grandfather not the cruise line.

Welcome, you've gotten answers to everything already but I'll offer a couple extra bits:

While your wine / non-alcoholic beverages technically must be in your carry on luggage, it's worth noting that airline rules don't apply.  Each piece must fit through scanners but you aren't limited to one carry on per person so it's really a matter of how much can you carry on.  (Of course, if you're flying to reach the ship, that will limit you.)  You'll also be carrying it all until your room is available around 1PM (unless you purchase the Key which includes dropping carry-ons somewhere).

You can go to guest services and get room keys so everyone has access to both rooms.  (Only the original cards can be used for expenses but I'm guessing you're paying the bills for both rooms so it doesn't really matter.)  Then, you can also sleep in whichever room you like.

Passport debates are quite common.  Most agree having them makes travel much easier than birth certificate plus other ID.  However, there's no agreement over what to do with them for excursions.  Some posters will argue they should stay in your cabin safe because if you miss the boat, the ship staff will retrieve them and leave them with the port authority when the ship leaves.  Others will argue you should keep your passports with you at all times when you are off the ship just in case of emergencies.  One thing is certain...You cannot fly without a passport so if you do get left on an island and the ship staff didn't find your passports, you are stuck until you can get to an embassy and get new passports made.

On 10/26/2019 at 2:01 PM, cookie10* said:

Its Smart Casual.

Do you really think you can get everyone to agree what that actually means?  I've got a very professional job, but my standard office attire is jeans and a "nice" shirt.  Smart casual is supposed to be more relaxed than what you wear to the office right?  I'll never understand why some people think they get to control how others dress especially on vacation.  If I ever make Diamond, I promise to laugh at anyone that tells me I'm not dressed "right" in the lounge.

The Bermuda Triangle gets headlines but I think I heard/read somewhere that the rate of disappearances actually isn't that much higher than any other frequently traveling area of the ocean.  I wonder if I can find that article....

Verizon offers Travel Pass which extends your service plan to foreign countries for a daily charge of $5-10 depending on the location.  The first time you attempt to use phone/text/data in a foreign country, they send a free text stating the cost and asking you to approve.  If you reply yes, then you have 24 hours of service from that point even if you change locations.  So we would accept service on one island in the afternoon and have service on a different island in the morning after cruising there overnight.  My parents are currently using this in Europe.  You do have to contact Verizon and setup Travel Pass before your first trip.  If you want service every day, there might be a cheaper option but for contacting home once in awhile, I think Travel Pass is great.  Note:  this will only provide service on the islands.  While at sea, your only options are Cellular At Sea which is very expensive or you pay for Royal's Wifi plan (Voom) and use Wifi Calling or Messenger or any other app that will route your calls through Wifi.

1 hour ago, Flacruiser99 said:

Not on the Firefox browser I'm using Dell laptop.

Just tried it on Firefox.  It's there in the lower right of my screen.

There is a "mark site read" at the top and bottom of the page (at least on the full website).  If that's what you're clicking, no need to scroll to the top!

I wouldn't be surprised by a new year's eve party with champagne on the promenade.  They already do that every cruise when the captain makes his speech and introduces all the senior officers.  It's not an open bar, just a few waiters with trays of glasses.  Unless you are specifically wandering around grabbing glasses and chugging it, that usually only amounts to 2 glasses each.  There are a couple other opportunities for free drinks (champagne at the art auctions, I got one once during embarkation, and I think I've seen free wine tasting during a sale).  However, all the possible free drinks from an entire cruise probably don't add up to breaking even with the cost of a single day's drink package.

Speaking as a really new father (my son is only 6 weeks old), I've only used the LATCH system to attach a car seat by clipping to those metal anchors hidden in the crack of the seats.  In the US, those have been required on all new cars since 2002 and every vehicle in my extended family has them.  I will probably never have to use a lap belt to attach a car seat so if that is all that is available in a foreign country, I would be fearful of not doing it correctly.  Actually, given the road conditions on some of the islands I've cruised to, I'm not sure I would want to risk bringing my son on an excursion for several years!

Besides weather and mechanical problems with the ship itself, even arriving at the scheduled time doesn't guarantee when they can start disembarking passengers.  If the coast guard decides to do an extra thorough inspection of the ship, everyone gets to wait until they are done before anyone gets off.  In general, a 6AM arrival means the first people are off between 7-7:30AM but there are many reasons it could be later.

I've never heard anyone mention an exception for larger cabins.

1 hour ago, labdogs42 said:

Gotcha.  And if I'm on an 8 night sailing, do they charge me by the day or night for drink package?  Looks like maybe day?  So, 9 days on an 8 night cruise?

While there is a day 9 on an 8 night cruise, there are only eight 24-hour periods (and even if you are the first to board and last off the ship you can't quite reach that maximum).  Day 1 and Day 9 combined make a whole "day" so it is simpler to charge by the night.  Don't worry, your package will work until you are off the ship.  Although finding alcohol will be a bit of a challenge in the mornings since most (all?) bars are closed.  About the only exception is mimosas and the like with breakfast.  Of course, the non-alcoholic options are available during those hours.

I think all muster stations are outdoors on Enchantment (near the lifeboat you would use in an emergency).  I've heard on these forums that you're supposed to report to your station to get your name checked in, and then those that cannot stand at the muster station will be directed elsewhere where there is seating to hear the presentation.

11 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

I don't see why you couldn't do this but I'm not sure I understand why you would want to unless you have a very low limit on your card.

11 hours ago, Jim82Mac said:

Wow, this is extremely unnecessary! Very rude and uncalled for. 

How is what I said rude?  Paying cash means your money is gone immediately.  Depending on when your credit card cycles compared to the last day of your vacation, the credit card charges won't be due until 1-2 months after the trip.  As long as you pay it off in full, you get the advantages of floating your bill and earning rewards.  Credit is far superior to cash as long as you aren't paying interest.  A low limit on the card would be an exception because you would need to avoid hitting that limit (and in fact might need to avoid hitting the half way point due to the daily holds followed by the actual charge temporarily hitting the limit).  This is why I said I don't understand why the original poster would want to add cash to a charge account.

I don't see why you couldn't do this but I'm not sure I understand why you would want to unless you have a very low limit on your card.

I can't even think of a website that doesn't work this way!

The only thing you absolutely need is your passport.  You really should have the set sail pass to get in the door but I've heard you can usually get them to print you one when you arrive.  The porters will fill out blank luggage tags with your name/cabin number if you need them.  The eDocs are pretty useless (at most I'd download a copy to my phone).

1) JS guests don't have access to the suite concierge.  Junior Suites are best thought of as "extra large balcony rooms that give double points".

2) Each restaurant can make reservations for all restaurants so just pick one without a line!  Also there's usually a setup somewhere (promenade or main dining room) where people can make reservations for a few hours on embarkation day.