WhiteSoxFan

The balcony:

Found them.  The Room:

We stayed in the deck 10 corner aft on the Mariner when she was sailing on the west coast.  It is a great room.  Very large and roomy.  There is a pole in the center at the end of the bed it is not really an issue.  The balcony is not as large as some of the lower decks but the view is unobstructed.  I know I have photos of it somewhere. I'll se if I can fine them.

The only downside (or upside) is there is a lot of walking to get back there.  Good news is you can have that extra desert.

I haven't seen the wording in the Cruise Planner, perhaps it needs to be more clear.  Certainly then if you are unhappy with the rules you can choose not to participate.

In your scenario I could see people taking the $200 in free play and playing the whole thing with hopes of doubling up or more then just cashing in.  A no lose proposition for you and a no win proposition for the casino.  

15 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

That's not really correct. If I step up to the table and hand the pit boss $100, I get chips worth $100 that I could in theory turn around and immediately cash out for my $100 back (say, because I got cold feet about gambling). If I played but decided the table was cold, I could cash out after losing $30 and still get back $70 of my original $100.

On the other hand, if I had $100 in free play chips, I cannot cash them out at all; I have to gamble them until they're gone, and yes I am going to lose those chips (and the money paid for them) no matter what. If I get $200 in winnings, I have not won $200 -- I have won only $100 because the first $100 in winnings just recovers the money I'm forced to spend through the free play chips.

It's a lousy system, and the way it's worded on the Cruise Planner is horribly deceptive. If I'm spending money for chips, I fully expect to be able to change my mind and cash out with whatever is left if the tables are just not working for me.

No casino on earth is going to basically give you an immediate 10% return.   Depending on the games you like to play and the odds you still have a good chance of coming out ahead.

It may be worth it to contact your driver right away and let them know where you are.  

Just now, ChrisHa said:

I'm using Avis, so no shuttle from MIA.

@WhiteSoxFan - is the pickup at the Rental Car Center or do you have to take the train back to the main terminal area?

Pick up is at the MIA RCC.  Just take the elevator or escalator to the top floor and the taxi/ride sharing is in the middle on the west side.  Basically you will walk out to the top floor of the parking deck.

I have seen this type of promotion before and it always worked as you described.  You are basically guaranteeing that you will lose $2200 in bets placed.  All winnings will be paid back in regular chips.

Definitely check with your rental company to see if they provide shuttles.  I know that Alamo/National used to do so.

The problem with the shuttles is you usually have to wait, they tend to be very crowded, don't necessarily hold that many people and they have to stop at every ship. Fortunately Terminal A would most likely be stop #1 as they start at the back and work their way back out.

One warning from personal experience using ride sharing.  I returned my rental car the day prior to the Symphony group cruise and ordered a Lyft to take me back to the hotel.  I had two drivers drop the ride and the third call me because no one could figure out were I was.  The pickup is on the 4 floor outside by the taxi area and apparently the information that the drivers received didn't really direct them there.  It took at least 20 minutes to finally get picked up.  At that point I was sorry I just didn't pay an extra few dollars and jump in a waiting cab. 

I booked a 5 day Explorer sailing in Jan. 2020 the last day of the previous sale. MEI re-priced with the new offer and the pricing was exactly the same but I got the $50 savings on top of my C & A balcony discount!  Anytime I can cruise for less than $125/day pp with gratuities and refundable deposit included, I'm in!

I just noticed that.  All I did was screen shot it.  lol

Bottom one shows the difference in the average cost pp but not the total is wrong.

Another RCL website screwup.

I was just doing some mock bookings and did receive the diamond C & A discounts and the BOGO 60.  What I lost was the additional discount.  If your C & A benefits do not excee the discount I'm sure they display the cheapest alternative.

32 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

You should have gone to Hooked it was fantastic! That was a great cruise and we had amazing weather. Looking forward to Thanksgiving on Allure next year with stops in the new and improved coco cay, st Thomas, st Martin!

I agree that the weather was amazing.  Especially compared to the forecast.  @Matt & @AnnetteJackson dialed up some good weather. 

I wanted to come back and mention that on our Thanksgiving sailing on the Symphony we just used our Seapass card in the slot and we never came back to an uncomfortable room. It would appear that removal of the key from the slot does not effect the climate controls at all.

We were also on the Thanksgiving sailing.  We found our bags about 20' down the hall from our cabin.  We found my daughters a good 80' from her cabin.  This was the first cruise in 12 that i didn't have them delivered directly outside my cabin door.

We ate in the MDR two nights of this cruise, not Thanksgiving though.  We found the service to be fast and the food to be the typical MDR experience.  We elected to go to the WJ on Thanksgiving, We wanted to partake in the group cruise toast and then grab a quick dinner.  It sounds like it was better than your MDR experience. 

The specialty restaurants were top notch for sure.  We did Chops, Wonderland and 150 Central Park for dinner, all excellent and Jamie's for lunch, also excellent.

I thought one of the amazing additions to the ship was Playmakers.  We didn't have any food from there but the atmosphere for the games was incredible.

As far as ports, we enjoyed Roatan.  We did a private tour from Victor Boddan and had a tour as well as my daughter and her fiance did ziplining. In Costa Maya we went to Maya Chan which was really my favorite stop of the cruise because 1) Tequilla, 2) Great food, 3) Amazing service & 4) Great company. In Cozumel we did Paradise Beach.  We had a great time at the beach with food and drinks for about half of what an all inclusive would have cost. In Nassau we stayed on the ship preferring to enjoy the half full ship.

The other amazing part of this cruise was the entertainment, the shows are great, although we missed getting to see Flight.

Sorry to hijack you mini-review with my mini-review.

25 minutes ago, CruisingIsLikeCrack said:

Is Royal not going to be using Terminals F & G anymore?

Allure and Symphony will use Terminal A.  Mariner will use Terminal A if there if it's open.  Others to F or G.

Here is a pic of the Mariner docked at Terminal A.  You can see how close the garage is to the terminal.  From the pictures I've seen it appears the bag drop area is underneath the garage beside the terminal building.

You will be departing and returning to the new terminal A.  The parking garage looks to be very convenient as it is directly adjacent to the terminal building and directly above the drop off area.

While the Tech vending machine is a little indulgent, I think the others will serve a useful purpose.  The pharma one particularly so.  I think this is a good addition to the ship.  

12 minutes ago, MKSglitz said:

Cruising on Freedom of the Seas in January.  Does anyone know if they have power slots on their cabin doors?  Would love to have a cool room when returning from a day in the Caribbean warmth.

No, these are not on Freedom.

This will be one cruise where I don't have to save my Compasses for you Matt.

C & A will provide equal benefits to significant others living at the same address.  For example my daughter's fiance enjoys Diamond status even though he only has 21 cruise points as they live at the same address and she has notified C & A that he is her SO.

in your case you will receive Gold benefits but your traveling companion will not unless she has at least one cruise with RC.

In regards to check-in and boarding I would simply show them your set sail & sea pass with your gold status, I do not think they will ask to see hers.   

4 hours ago, rjac said:

I think  that is on the property of the big white condo building at the mouth of the port. 

That is correct. You can see them in goggle maps. 

3 hours ago, Sweety said:

I am D+. I am looking at a 10:15am flight. There are only four people.

I'm not saying it's not doable but it depends on the level of stress you're willing to handle.  We (3 of us) did a 10:40AM flight when we went on Allure the first time.  Up at 5:30AM, walk off with our luggage as soon as they let us off and a quick cab to the airport.