F1guynz

Hi, when we stayed in Fairbanks in 2012 we stayed at a place called Rivers Edge Resort. We stayed in a little Garden Cottage roomand enjoyed our stay. If you don't have a car it maybe a little bit far out but it was a nice place to stay.

We are on Ovation in November and First Night Done Right is not an option on our cruise planner. It is an option on one of our other cruises on another ship booked later, so I assume it is not available on Ovation. As I understand it, when they scrapped the dynamic dining concept the four different complementary restraurants changed so they all served the same food. Two restaurants are assigned for traditional dining and two are for MTD. With the change it means the restaurants have a different look but the food will be the same no matter which one you get assigned to. On the cruise planner I found I could book the day and dining time but did not have the option to select the restaurant other than for it to say it was complementary.. i am still hoping the 3 and 5 night dining packages will show up soon as we don't want to purchase the ultimate dining package for our cruise. Normally they are available by now so I am a little concerned that they will not be available on this cruise.

They definitely seem to make changes to the ships during their Chinese cruises. There are no Royal Class suites and Johnny Rockets becomes a noodle bar. From what I understand they do not do the Broadway shows they have when they are elsewhere in the world. We are on Ovation in November but I imagine the changes would be similar for Quantum.

Hi, It seems to be one of those weird things RCI does. For our next cruise coming up in a couple of months I can't change it, but for our 2019 cruise there is a modify button to change it. It is found at the bottom of the overview tab on the Cruise Planner.

Hi, It has been 30 for as long as I have been sailing with them so not a recent change.

As Brilliance of the Seas is a smaller ship the shows will just be walk ups. You shouldn't have any trouble finding seats if you get there a little early. For your specialty dining I would make your reservations for the nights you want when you get on the ship, as you can always cancel and rebook if there is a show you want to see. For the other nights did you select My Time Dining or traditional for the Main Dining Room? If you selected MTD, you should make reservations when you get on the ship to make sure you get the time you want. You can always cancel and change if your plans change. Nobody will mind. If you are doing traditional dining you will have picked a time when you booked, either 5pm or 8pm from memory. You can always eat any time at the Windjammer if there is a show you want to see as this is much faster than a full dining experience. This is what we tend to do. We normally eat at one of the specialty restaurants or the Windjammer so I don't have much experience of the MDR. Carl.

Hello and welcome, What ship are you sailing on? I understand for Quantum and Oasis class ships you will need to book the Broadway shows but I don't think you have to for any others, we never have anyway. Depending on how far way your cruise is you may not be able to book any shows yet anyway but any you can book will eventually be on the cruise planner. Having a look at the cruise compass https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass on this website should give you a good idea of the show times on most ships. Enjoy your cruise.

We have sailed on Princess and Royal Carribean but prefer Royal for a couple of reasons. 1) we tend to sail on Voyager class ships and there is just more to see and do. We enjoy going to the ice skating and watching people on the flow rider. We don't mind paying extra for restaurants and the suites are good value. Princess feel mores traditional and seems to attract an older cruiser. 2) the Loyalty programme works better for us. You can get through the levels quickly and the perks offered are much more useful than what Princess offers. That said we would sail Princess again if we prefer the itinerary as the destinations are important to us as well. We did the Mediteranian on Ruby Princess and that was pretty port intensive (about 10 ports in 13 days) so we were busy most days. We would also like to try Celebrity at some point as our Loyaty status is transferable. Our next cruise is on Ovation in November so we will see how an even bigger ship than Voyager class compares. Looking forward to it.

Hi, See this link for more details on the pilot programme. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/08/04/royal-caribbean-tests-diamond-drink-redemption-change

Hi DocLC, I will be happy to report back on Ovation once we return. It should be a step up from the Voyager class ships we are used to. Just a couple of corrections on our next cruises. Ovation is 23 November 2017, Not December and March Explorer cruise is 2019, not 2018. Cheers Carl.

I think the whole C&A section of the site has been forgotten. Under the latest news section they are just introducing dynamic dining and Allure of the Seas is going to Europe for the 2015 season. Since then nothing has happened. They either need to revamp it or remove it. Ours is the Australian website so other countries might be different.

The ultimate dining package on our Ovation cruise has come down from $487 to $450. Must be the exchange rate improving. $900 is still pretty expensive for 2 people so we won't be taking advantage of it. Plus there are a number of complementary restaurants that look good so we probably wouldn't get full value from it anyway. At the moment there are no 3-5 night dining packages showing on the cruise planner. Hopefully they will show up soon and we will book a 5 night dining package.

Hi, there is a sale on the Australian and New Zealand website at the moment for the South Pacific. If you made a booking when the cruises initially came out it may pay to check the pricing of the current sale. I cancelled and rebooked yesterday and saved $300 NZD. This sale also has a reduced deposit.

Ovation of the Seas November 23rd 2017 (Singapore to Sydney 14 days) Explorer of the Seas February 9th 2018 (Sydney 3 Night sampler) Explorer of the Seas March 1st 2019 (South Pacific 9 nights)

I like the PIP in theory but this thread prompted me to check our 2019 Island cruise booking which I made on the day it became available and it is now $300 cheaper than when I originally booked. I will give RCI a call and get them to re-price the cruise. Hopefully it will get cheaper again when they next have a 30% off sale.

+1 for Herculaneum. We enjoyed Pompeii but Herculaneum was amazing as it is so well preserved. Would love to go back one day. We also spent time a few days in the Cinque Terre before our cruise and loved it. It was busy and touristy during the day but at night it was much quieter. We rented an apartment in Vernazza and kind of felt like locals. I am not sure if you can do a tour from a ship but it is well worth a visit.

On the Voyager class the seats outside never seem to get any sun and the wind always whips through as the ship is moving. Not very nice at all for al fresco dining. Maybe the the sun is on the wrong side in the Southern Hemisphere ?

Hi, I noticed a new line on our invoice for our latest cruise booking. This seems to have removed the prepay gratuities option when booking a cruise. "Service Charge's for dining and stateroom attendants are included in your voyage fare, Spa and service fee's are not included. For your convenience an 18% service fee will be added to your onboard folio for spa & bar services" If my interpretation is correct I think this is a good move by Royal Caribbean as Australia/New Zealand do not have tipping as part of our culture (It is included as part of peoples salary) and it is normal to have everything included in the base cost. This change will only leave taxes as a separate cost at booking time. This may have changed a while ago but it is the first time I have noticed it.

I have found their Australia/NZ website a bit flaky with this. If I search for a cruise without signing in, go to the booking page and then sign in from the booking page I don't get the Crown and Anchor discount. However if I sign in before I search and then go to the booking page I do see the discount. If you have received a Crown and Anchor discount you should see it as a line item in the fare breakdown. I am not sure whether the same feature/bug happens on the US website as there are differences between it and the Australian one.

We have booked a GS Explorer for March 2019 for 9 nights up to the Islands. We looked at Ovation which is doing the same cruise 2 weeks later but a GS cost $4000 more. Not good value for money in my opinion. We are on Ovation later this year but RCI charge such a premium for sailing on her I think it will be a one off.

I have printed copies of the last ones at home. I will compare these to the latest ones tonight and see if there are any differences. Looking forward to booking next week

Here is the link to the updated itineraries https://secure.royalcaribbean.com.au/media/pdf/reports/170522_RCI_201819_ProgramRelease_FA_Consumer_AU.pdf

Here is the link to the updated itineraries https://secure.royalcaribbean.com.au/media/pdf/reports/170522_RCI_201819_ProgramRelease_FA_Consumer_AU.pdf

I asked RCI Customer Service about this when we were booked in a suite and my parents were not and they said they could only do that if the booking number was the same. In reality through when we went to the port they allowed us all to check in together so it is worth a try. You do sound like you will have a lot of people checking in together at the same time though so they may not be as lenient. With regards to the lounges I have always seen they are pretty strict on entry and check out any people they haven't seen before to confirm they are allowed in the lounge, so I think you will be out of luck there. The lounges are already busy with people who are allowed in and the first time we went in they came around the tables to check that you were allowed in. After that they just checked any new people in who came in throughout the cruise as they get to know the people pretty well. Their cruise documentation makes it clear that friends and family travelling with you that do not meet access rules are not allowed in. This is one rule I haven't seen them bend. Enjoy your cruise.

It is available on the following ships: Adventure, Brilliance, Freedom, Independence, Jewel, Liberty, Mariner, Navigator, Radiance, Serenade and Voyager. We did it on one 7 night cruise and one 14 night cruise. On the 14 night cruise the show was on twice but I can't remember how many times on the 7 nighter. You need to reserve it through the cruise planner to ensure you get place. I think it is pretty popular.