Skid

24 minutes ago, rjac said:

Where can I find Matt's article that RestingB referred to? Thanks.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/07/07/royal-caribbean-testing-new-unlimited-alcohol-package-rule-requires-all-adults-purchase

Small gestures can mean so much. We went to guest relations inquiring what it would cost to call our daughter from the ship to say happy birthday. The employee said "Tell no one and follow me". Walked us to a phone, asked for and dialed the number and said with a smile "sing happy birthday, keep it short and hang up". Now THAT is customer service!

1 hour ago, craig403 said:

To get to the familiar search box on website, click on "Plan a Cruise" then click on "Search by Destinations".  Scroll down and you will find the search box on the right hand side.  Not sure if this is a recent change or I had just overlooked it.   

Thanks for posting! I never saw that before either. Very useful.

I do see your point, Jane, but in our case, Royal would have made more money on a $120 punch card than what I actually spent on drinks on our trip. I would have gladly bought that card, while not even considering the $350+ deluxe plan. I would guess many other people would also. I don't think that having this type of plan available would take away from the sales of the larger packages people want--it would actually be additional revenue coming from people like me.

A poster on another board mentioned discount cards. The Royal ships that we have been on usually sold discount drink cards during the last few days of the cruise. I think it would great to sell those types of cards (maybe even without the discount) right from the start or on the cruise planner. Pick the number of drinks you want and then each drink gets deducted. Doesn't matter which person it's for so it eliminates the sharing problem--when the card hits zero drinks, it's done. Personally, we are not big drinkers so a full package is not worth it for us. I would love to be able to buy a few drinks in advance, possibly even taking advantage of a cruise planner sale, thus lessening charges to worry about during the cruise.

1 hour ago, Matt said:

I'm drinking it as I type this and it's pretty darn good for free. 

Well then, I'd gladly trade places with you even if the coffee was bad! Enjoy the holiday everyone.

9 hours ago, Heathermom said:

I realize it's subjective but is the regular brewed coffee good?  I enjoy brewed, black coffee if it is dark and rich but I'll pay for the premium coffee package if the free stuff isn't great coffee.  

A lot depends on the ship also. I like coffee on the stronger side, but not as strong as Starbucks. I liked the coffee on Adventure better than on Anthem. Never tried the premium.

1 hour ago, rjac said:

Hey Grubby,

I share your enthusiasm on your up coming cruise, only mine isn't until next March! My wife says I'm starting to get on her nerves! I recommend you buy these cruise luggage tag holders: http://amzn.to/2thOxmj. They are fool proof and very durable, can be used on more then one cruise!

Agreed. I happen to have bought mine on ebay. They are fantastic. If you are flying first, I recommend putting them in your carry on bag and then attaching them to your luggage at baggage claim. 

7 hours ago, monctonguy said:

I don't know what the "free" room service for breakfast is like now (as they decided to charge for all room service recently) but I would recommend that option.

Was recently on Adventure. The free room service continental breakfast was not bad at all--hot and cold cereals, fruit, bagels, juices, coffee, tea milk, etc. Just know that the croissants and muffins are minuscule-muffins are literally the diameter of a quarter and croissants about 2 inches long. If that is what you want, order several. There is an order form in the cabin to fill out and leave on your door until 3AM.  You can tell them what time to come. They will call you when they are on the way.

2 hours ago, jce2 said:

One note:  I do a LOT of research on my trips and can tell you that round trip vs two separate one-ways on Southwest generates the exact same price (ie. you can book one trip now and return trip later and it wont cost any extra.  There is no price break for round-trip (at least not on Southwest))

And sometimes it's even less to use 2 different airlines. My children booked United to Fort Lauderdale and the return trip is on Southwest. It does pay to research.

31 minutes ago, blawmtih said:

Great thoughts from everyone.  I grew up in coastal New England and love it, but the New England cruises get such poor reviews.  I partly assumed some of this was the fact that mostly angry people or critiques write reviews.  Yeah, I knew there was a bunch in the Caribbean we were missing.  I want to do St. Martin next or Bermuda but will consider New England a bit more.  Living in West Virginia means to get to New England I have to get through the dreaded New York/Connecticut corridor, the drive would be more pleasant on a cruise ship I think.

The 9 night Anthem sailing out of Cape Liberty fulfills your wish list. It goes to Bermuda AND St Martin, as well as Puerto Rico and Labadee.

5 hours ago, blawmtih said:

We've done a 4 night cruise on Enchantment (Nassau, Coco Cay, Key west) and we are on Oasis in August (Labadee, Falmouth, and Cozumel).  I would like suggestions for our next cruise.  We would prefer departing from East Coast ports (New England down to Miami).  My wife and I took to cruising like fish to water.  We loved the Caribbean but would probably go anywhere.  Basically is there a consensus on a few stellar itineraries?    

If you would like a little longer cruise, I don't think you can go wrong with the 11 or 12 night Eastern or Southern sailings on Anthem OTS departing from Cape Liberty in NJ. Anthem OTS also does a 9 night Bermuda/Caribbean itinerary. Harbor Lights in Barbados and Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda are two of our favorite beaches.

1 hour ago, chrisd596 said:

Do they carry distilled water onboard? Can it be ordered??

 

Thanks

Chris

If this is something you need for medical equipment such as a CPAP machine you can complete the RCCL special needs form. They will usually confirm back to you within a couple of days. They will have the water and an extension cord in your cabin when you get there. Here's a link to the form:

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/guestSpecialNeeds.do

18 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

Royal Caribbean is renowned for having terrible IT systems ... generally you either get drowned in emails that are meaningless or you get nothing at all ... getting actual, relevant emails is basically not an option.

I have had emails on two different occasions telling me how much they are looking forward to me being on a ship that I had never booked on and inviting me to book excursions. Listed my sail date, took me to cruise planner for that specific itinerary and everything :)

Start packing--maybe the next email will be a set sail pass!! 

1 hour ago, JenniferE said:

Or...you have already booked items but they keep emailing me telling me to book. Super annoying!

Agreed.

Got an e-mail from RCCL with the subject "looking forward to welcoming you onboard". There are links attached to the cruise planner for making all purchases and reservations. All well and good except that our cruise is over 300 days away and, of course, the cruise planner won't allow doing any of that this early (except for the spa). When going to cruise planner we get this: Uh oh. It looks like you’re trying to reserve a product too far ahead or too close to your sail date. If you have several weeks to go, try reserving closer to your sail date. If you’re sailing soon, please try to reserve this product once you’re onboard. We booked our last cruise a year in advance and do not remember this email issue. I do not want to unsubscribe because some of their emails are actually useful, but it seems like now we will be getting bombarded for a whole year!

21 minutes ago, Stephanie said:

When getting back on board in each port, there is always a security line you have to go through.  The closer to the deadline, the longer the line is.  As the others said, there will be an "all aboard" time that will be in your cruise compass and announced over the loud speakers.  We always aim for at least 30 mins - 1 hour before that time.

Good advice!

On 1/21/2017 at 4:14 AM, L454S said:

Just off the Navigator, a new $6 charge appears on the credit card after we are home. And then 10 minutes on the phone.

 

A big deal? not really. This is the third time for us though. Imagine how many people don't bother with the call......food for thought.

I emailed RCCL less than 4 hours ago about the charge for 2 bottles of water that was billed AFTER debarkation from Adventure OTS on 5/27 (I had previously had the charge removed via telephone). I called the practice despicable. I got a phone call about it "from Michael Bayley's office" a few minutes ago.

I was told that "a decision was made today that effective July1, water will no longer be left in the staterooms" and that an order form will be left for those that do want it.

We are not sailing again until next May, so it would be nice if anyone here sailing July 1 or later can let us know if that happens. Thanks!

By the way, if you you are celebrating anything or want to surprise someone, Abe has cards for you to fill out and he will mention it on one of his daily morning shows.

Joe01-Thanks and enjoy your cruise!!

3 hours ago, SouthernYankee said:

We had Abe Hughes as Cruise Director last October on the Harmony of the Seas.  Was not real memorable but not a real negative either.  Have had many others that we liked much better.  As for Chris H. not familiar him/her. 

When leaving a port time to be on board is always 1/2 hour prior.  So for 5:00pm departure, all aboard would be 4:30pm. We don't usually cut it that close.

We had Abe Hughes on Anthem in March 2016 and loved him. He was personable, funny and accessible. We have been on just 5 cruises, but he was our favorite CD of all. The AM with him then was named Chris. If it is the same one (British), he was great also.

46 minutes ago, whenismynextcruise said:

thank you Skid for this information!!!! We have been on Anthem twice and another trip planned at Thanksgiving but really we find the Quantum class a little too much. I am glad RC is adding another class ship. I thought it would be the New England/Canada trips only (we are from Boston) but it looks like they have late Spring trips planned for the Bahamas. I am looking forward to booking. I hope many do and RC sees the value in adding more year round Voyager or Freedom class itineraries. 

We too have sailed on Anthem and also prefer the Voyager Class. Just debarked Adventure a week ago. With the recent partial refurbish and the upcoming completion of that refurbish, I think you will love that ship! However, according to what is posted on another thread, she won't be here year round, heading to Florida for the winter season.

http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/03/15/royal-caribbean-announces-2018-2019-caribbean-alaska-and-northeast-itineraries

4 hours ago, aaliancewarfare said:

What is RCL doing in NYC area. Im hearing a ton of stuff about a liberty class ship coming to NYC permanently with the Anthem. Bayonne can berth 2 ships so i'm curious

Not sure of the actual starting date, but Adventure of the Seas (Voyager Class) is coming to Bayonne. We are booked on a May 2018 sailing.

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

What screw ups? I'm booked on Anthem for October next year, just a short 5-night to Bermuda to try her out.

@Matt's review didn't mention anything in terms of "screw ups", so I'm hoping just tech glitches that were more common in her first year and not anything related to service quality or other non-tech stuff.

We were on Anthem in March, 2016 and had no issues. Family members just returned from a May sailing and also had no issues. From our experience, you have no need to worry.

If I am not mistaken, only OBC from Royal Caribbean or the RC Visa will show up on cruise planner. OBC from travel agents or other third parties will usually not be available until the first or second cruise day.