Atlantix2000

30 minutes ago, TracieT. said:

Do  walkie talkies work?

Most reports I've seen say the amount of metal in the ship's walls mean walkie talkies only have so-so reception unless you are already near each other.  Also, have you ever seen the annoyed reactions when someone is using their cell phone in speaker mode in public?  Interrupting someone's vacation with the squealing and squawking of a walkie talkie will probably be worse!

8 hours ago, DublinFC said:

I was wondering something a little different when it comes to splitting meals.  Would I be able to gift a specialty dining night from a 3 night pack to someone?  My wife and I are planning to buy a 3 specialty dinning package, but I was wondering if I can give one of my nights to my mother in law so she and my wife can have a nice meal together while my daughter and I go "slum" it in the main dining

This strikes me as the type of question where they will have to officially say no if asked in advance by phone, forum, or email so people don't find a way to abuse the system.  However, if asked on the ship during the cruise, they may bend the rules and let you do it.

2 hours ago, rtread said:

I'm still trying to understand this drinks package thing. On a seven day cruise, the charge for the package is per day but you buy for the duration.....?  I mean you can't buy it for 1 day or 3 days.....you buy it for 7 days? I think the part that's bothering me is Day 1 and Day 7 are not complete days but you are paying for 7 days. What am I missing here?

I assume you mean you're on a week long cruise (saturday to saturday or equivalent) which is 7 nights not 7 days.  There is actually a Day 8 on such a cruise.  Day 1 is whenever you board until midnight.  Day 8 is midnight until you debark.  Add them together and you're only a few hours short of 7 full days (and thus the earlier you board, the better the deal).  Of course, few if any bars are open in the early morning so you're not really missing drinking opportunities anyway.

3 hours ago, Rene Desmarais said:

@Mattthe boarding time ritual may have changed.   A friend of mine recently came back from A Symphony of the Seas..  RCL has started to re-enforce the boarding times.   No more early boarding....

 

I don't know if they have changed this to all ships, but for sure... Symphony...

Was this while Symphony was in Europe?  I think it would be all over the message boards (here and elsewhere) if Royal had changed this for US departures.

There's been an ATM on each of the ships I have cruised and I think it's a safe bet that there will be one on every ship.  I can't speak to the fee to use the ATM but would imagine it to be an expensive way to get cash unless your bank will reimburse you for it.

18 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

I get that, but who would book an unrefurbed 10 year old Oasis after having the brand new flagship on that itinerary the year before? I've done the Med cruise on Allure, Harmony and Symphony but didn't bother considering going back to Oasis this year for one second.

For every experienced cruiser that visits forums and keeps track of refurbishment dates, there's hundreds, maybe thousands, more customers getting ready to sign up for their very first cruise.  Most won't even think to ask whether a newer ship exists or has done a similar route before.  As long as the ships sail full, Royal will keep sending ships on that route.

There will be a formal night but no, you don't HAVE to pack a suit.  You'll see all levels of dress from torn jeans to tuxedos on formal night (and any other night really).

Customer service phone reps are notoriously unreliable sources of information like this.  The statements a surge protector "can catch fire" and "will catch fire" are not the same thing.  But IF it does catch fire and they trace that fire to a surge protector in your stateroom, do you think that call to a customer service rep will protect you from a lawsuit?  This is not a debate.  Your device is NOT safe on a cruise ship.  Period.

8 hours ago, Jess said:

I purchased a travel adapter that said in the description it is also a surge protector and the security staff at port canaveral had allowed me to take the travel adapter on the cruise ship. 

This is the exact travel adapter that I purchased: https://www.amazon.com/EPICKA-Universal-Travel-Adapter-Power/dp/B078S3M2NX?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAINYWQL7SPW7D7JCA&tag=aboutcom02tripsavvy-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B078S3M2NX&ascsubtag=4136335|google.com|||74|2|. 

This looks like a great multi-country travel adapter but it is NOT safe on a cruise ship.  This looks like a normal adapter and most port staff will probably let it through but please don't use it on a ship.  Surge protectors can catch fire even under normal power conditions (no surge required).

Never ever take a surge protector on a cruise ship.  Surge protection works by detecting current relative to earth ground but there's literally no such thing when you are at sea.  Grounding works completely differently on a ship's electrical system and a surge protector can catch fire.  Therefore, for safety, all surge protectors are banned and because port staff aren't trained electricians, they often reject normal power strips as well.  If you really need one on board, just ask your stateroom attendant and they will provide something known to be ship safe.

I see the staircases you mention on decks 11 and 12 and I also note that area is white space on the next few decks up and down.  I can't say for certain but I'm guessing that is a set of stairs and or elevators for only the crew to use and it probably should not appear on the deck plans.  That said, I just looked and all the Oasis class ships show that same staircase on decks 11 and 12 only with white space above and below.

Fortunately, I've found dramamine, bonine, etc work for post-cruise motion sickness just like they do for mid-cruise motion sickness.  I usually only need them the first day of the cruise and the first day after.  Hell, I've popped a pill on land after a couple hours on a tiny fishing boat too.  I've never been able to predict when I'll feel off but at least there's a "cure".

So in order to get the better deal, do you check out without putting in your C&A number, then call to add it later?  That seems annoying but would be par for the course.

To add to what has been said above, if you are carrying your own bags, yes, you can really leave any time on debarkation day.  Those with early flights will want to carry their bags and get in line right away so they don't have to wait for the staff to unload their luggage or search for it in the terminal.  Once you are done with breakfast, you just get in line whenever you want (with those no carrying bags).  The lines to get off the ship and the lines at customs will probably be longer at this point but you'll still have plenty of time for a 2PM flight.  After all, the whole ship has to be cleared by around 10 so the next cruise can begin.

VOOM is "only" internet.  But if you setup your phone to use Wi-Fi Calling, your Verizon calls and texts will be sent using the internet so you avoid international roaming.  I don't remember if you have to call/visit Verizon to setup your account first, but you definitely need to do it before you leave.  You can't activate Wi-Fi Calling for the first time when you are already roaming.  (The phone needs to do some sort of one time setup using the actual Verizon network).

Remember this will only work while you are on the ship.  In port, you may be able to find free Wi-Fi or you can get it by making a purchase at some restaurants/stores.  If that doesn't work, Verizon also has Travel Pass which allows you to use your plan internationally for a daily charge of $5,  10, or ? depending on the country.  Again, I think you have to add the feature to your account before you leave.  Then, the first time you attempt to make a call/text from a foreign country, you'll get a text asking you to authorize the daily charge.  It's actually good for 24 hours from the moment you say yes which means if you do it in the afternoon in one port, you would still have access in the morning in a different port.  However, Travel Pass does not get you access at sea on the ship so you have to remember to turn Wi-Fi Calling off and on at the appropriate times.  Cellular At Sea roaming charges are expensive.

Hope that helps.

A few items (pastries, etc) in one of the lounges.  It's really only useful if you're trying to be one of the first off the ship (no time for windjammer) and don't want to walk through lines and customs on an empty stomach.  For me, it's about as useful as priority embarkation which only matters if you're trying to be one of the first onto the ship and will arrive before anyone has boarded.

You can, but for sanitary reasons, you cannot fill your bottle directly.  You have to fill a glass from the ship then pour into your bottle.

23 minutes ago, NJCruisers said:

Huh, so with the Deluxe package you can't get a bucket of beers?  

Well the deluxe package lets you buy one drink at a time and you can't share your drinks with anyone.  The whole point of a bucket of beers is to share with multiple people so they really aren't compatible.

I believe you can also go to guest services and rearrange how the OBC is distributed after you board.  For instance, moving any OBC credited to your kids to your account so they don't spend it all for you!

Agreed that your tickets will tell you where to meet.  In addition to meeting places on the ship, I've experienced meeting on the pier with excursion staff holding signs with name and number of the excursion.  Whether on or off the ship, you check in with that person and once they have everyone they walk you to meet your transportation.  For large excursions, they may take smaller groups to meet the transportation while the person with the sign keeps checking in more people.  I don't know how long they will wait for someone that is late.

No one ever plans on getting sick.  That's why insurance exists for such things.  Sorry to hear about your family member.

I think in order to log into the computers to do anything you would have to purchase one hour of VOOM (which is not much cheaper than one day).  I did that last year to check in for my flights since the last day was a sea day.

With this many ships on order, I feel it is inevitable that the smaller ships will be sold to another line (or possibly they create their own separate line for small ships).  The Royal brand will be all mega ships sailing to their own destinations and the few places that where these ships can dock.

25 minutes ago, Callummck said:

Sorry- I’m not expressing myself too well! 

I’m really asking the opposite - We haven’t prepaid gratuities, but the agent has booked us in for My Time Dining! We want to do MTD, but I’m asking will this stand without finding a way to prepay the gratuities beforehand (I’d guessed it would have been in Cruise Planner but evidently not)

I understand that once upon a time prepaid gratuities were required for MTD.  That is not the case anymore but Royal is not great about updating their website information (I've heard they still talk about Dynamic Dining on Quantum class ships which only lasted one year).  It's also not possible to update every forum discussion when information changes so it can be confusing to read conflicting threads.  I take any thread older than a year (sometimes less) with a grain of salt.

To sum up, your reservation is fine!

I thought they docked in Falmouth but never got clearance to let people ashore.